The+Poets+of+the+Nineteenth+Century-+Rev+Robert+Aris+Willmott

__The title of the book__: The Poets of the Nineteenth Century.  The poems were selected and edited by the Rev. Robert Aris Willmott Within the 620 pages are one hundred and thirty illustrated engraved drawings. The illustrations were by: Eminent Artists and Engraved by the Brothers Dalziel. Printed in London, on Bedford Street, Strand. 1870 (?) . New Edition. Frederick Warne and Co.

__About the Editor:__ Robert (Eldridge) Aris Willmott was born in 1809 and lived until 1863. He was a writer, editor and an English Clergyman. Willmott was able to make some money from his pen and his most highlighted works ran five editions and were even translated into German. The original publishing date of this book is difficult to point down, as many sources have various dates: 1870 or 1850. For more biographical information on Robert Aris Willmott two links have been provided: for those that have access to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography .or the easily accessible and open domain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Aris_Willmott.

__About the Publisher__: Funded in 1865 by Frederick Warne who was a bookseller and later a publisher. Frederick Warne and Co would gather increased popularity and build a soild reputation in the nineteenth century by promoting and publishing children's books. Frederick Warne and Co would be aquired by Penguin Books in 1983 leading to the company gaining cult like recognition from publishing Beatrix Potter and her "//Tale of Peter Rabbit//" series. For more information can be found presented at Penguin Books website http://www.penguin.com/meet/publishers/frederickwarne/.

__Appearance__: The cover, spine or back of the book are completely without any wear. The burgundy hard cover of this book is not the original, this is evident as the UVic call number is labeled on the spine of the book. What the original book cover looked like is a mystery: what colour was it and were there any embellishments like designs or textures used? Unfortunately the cover of the book is quite bland and due a lack of any drawings or designs it offers little insight into what lies within the book. However, Burgundy is a loud colour placing heavy emphasis on the appearance of the book cover and drawing the eye to it. Perhaps the University chose this colour to aid in the book's popularity or perhaps the colour was merely coincidental.
 * The Book: **



__Size:__This book is quite thick and large (roughly the size of a hand 4” x 7”) and due to the size and heaviness of the book it would not have been easily concealable in a coat pocket. Likely the book would have been carried either in a bag or simply left at home for private and personal enjoyment. __Pages:__ The colour of the pages is that of a beige undertone. While flipping through the book it is apparent that the pages are quite stuff and clean cut, implying that the book may have not gotten much usage or perhaps the owners of this book were quite gentle with it. It should be noted that one of the pages (pg 227) has not been cut completely, leaving it still connected at the top to page 228.

 As mentioned earlier the pages are trimmed with gilt edges, this choice made by Reverend Robert could have been an aesthetic choice or a religious choice (the gilded edges are parallel to that of bible pages, this could also explain the burgundy hard cover). There are no advertisements within the book, dedication or author portrait. It should be noted, however, that a drawing of Wordsworth is present and a wonderful small logo "//He Who Reads Rules//". Some small scratches appear on the gilt edges of the book.



There are 75 poets within, and 18 of them are women. Although the number seems low, Willmott remarks about the importance of women's poetry within the preface: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 14.3px;">"our poetry owes many beauties to womanly genius, and in the following pages some specimens of it will be found" (Willmott, Vi). As for the poets themselves, nearly all of them are Victorian with the exception of Scottish Poet James Beattie. Robert Willmott may have placed Beattie first to highlight this Scottish poet and continue with Victorian ones thereafter: William Cowper, William Hayley (et cetera).
 * Poets:**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">__Poems__: It would appear that all the poems within are complete and are not merely samples or extracts. This results in many of the poems to vary in length, tone and theme, creating a challenging mystery as to how Willmott chose these specific poems. Some poems are: Lyrical, Ironic, Elegy, Lyric and Ballads (The famous Lyrical Ballad Rime of the Ancient Mariner is within the book).With so many writers allows for many themes to be written about: nature, love, death, isolation, loneliness, religion, society, unrequited love, betrayal and much more.

This book is relevant to the class as the anthology is full of Victorian writers and their styles of prose and themes reflect to some of the topics we will be covering in class. Most importantly are the hand drawn illustrations within the text that are arguably part of the crucial importance of this anthology. These illustrations help create a moment of time from the poem and act as a visual aid to help enhance what the writer was portraying with their words. This added dimension to the poems creates an important marker that the artist deemed especially significant to draw attention to.
 * __Why does this book matter?__**



Uvic Call #: PR1221 W5 (32775005238067) <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;">N.O.Engl386.UVic.Spring2016

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Willmott, Robert. "Poets of the Nineteenth Century". Fredrick Warne and Co. London. 1870. Print. 620 pg.