YEATS, W. B. Poems (First edition)

YEATS, W. B. The Secret Rose. With Illustrations by J. B. Yeats. London: Lawrence & Bullen, Limited, 1897. First edition, first issue. 8vo, pp. xi, 265, [1]. Title-page printed in red and black with publisher’s device; frontispiece and six further full-page plates after John Butler Yeats. Uncut.

Original dark blue cloth, elaborately blocked in gilt to upper cover and spine after the celebrated design by Althea Gyles; “Lawrence & Bullen” at foot of spine, identifying the first issue and first binding. Light rubbing to extremities, occasional spotting, particularly to title-page, otherwise a very good copy, the remarkable gilt decoration remaining bright and well preserved.

One of Yeats’s most important early prose works, The Secret Rose brings together seventeen stories steeped in Irish folklore, mysticism and Rosicrucian symbolism. Dedicated to A. E. (George Russell), the collection occupies an important place in the development of Yeats’s imaginative vision during the Irish Literary Revival.

The extraordinary binding was designed by the Irish artist Althea Gyles and is among the finest examples of fin-de-siècle literary book design. Its intricate Tree of Life incorporates the rose and cross, entwined lovers, serpentine branches and other occult imagery closely connected with Yeats’s mystical interests. Gyles subsequently designed bindings for several of Yeats’s books, including The Wind Among the Reeds and Poems.

[L4 Yeats]