John Edmund Reade — Italy: A Poem, in Four Cantos with Notes

London , Longman, Brown, Green, & Longmans, 1845. Cloth. A volume of poetry by the little-known novelist and poet John Edmund Reade. Reade (1800–1870) possessed a remarkable capacity for imitation that often verged on plagiarism. Byron was his chief model, but his poems and plays are full of sentiments and phrases taken undisguisedly from the best-known writings of Scott, Wordsworth, Ben Jonson, and others. His ablest work, Cain the Wanderer, was published in 1829, and it obtained for its author an introduction to Coleridge and a eulogy from Goethe. In 1838, after a long stay in the south of Europe, he published Italy: a Poem, which while huge was shortened through the editing of Leigh Hunt and others. It bears a close resemblance to Childe Harold, reproducing even the dying gladiator. With neat ink inscription to front free endpaper, interestingly dated 1840 - five years before the publication of this volume. Very scarce. In a decorative cloth binding. Externally, a trifle rubbed with some shelfwear and slight fading to extremities and spine. Front hinge tender. Internally, firmly bound. Some occasional spotting, otherwise a bright, clean copy. Good . Ill.: None. Good .