8vo. vi, 138pp. Handsomely bound in contemporary richly gilt-tooled tree-calf, contrasting red morocco lettering-piece. A trifle rubbed, spine lightly sunned. Armorial bookplate of Lavington House to FEP, later shelf-label of Wilberforce Library, Backsettown to recto of FFEP.

The fifth edition of bluestocking Anna Laetitia Barbauld's [née Aikin] (1743- 1825) second published work, 1773's Poems. Barbauld, a teacher at the Palgrave Academy, wrote on a broad range of subjects and in several genres for over 50 years; most notably, her political poetry contributed significantly to the foundation of British Romanticism. Despite being largely dismissed as simply an over-scrupulous children's writer for two centuries, modern scholarship has allowed Barbauld's broad corpus of work to be analysed properly, paying attention to its promotion of Enlightenment values.

This copy was previously held in the Wilberforce Library, Backsettown, established by physician and noted doctor to Virginia Woolf, Octavia Wilberforce (1888- 1963). Wilberforce pursued medicine despite the disapproval of her parents, being largely supported by actress Elizabeth Robins; a long-term friend of the Woolfs, she was consulted at her practice in Brighton and recommended complete rest just a day before Virginia Woolf committed suicide.

Provenance: Originally held in the library of Lavington House, home of poet John Sargent (1749-1831), whose son married William Wilberforce's first cousin. Sargent's eldest daughter married Samuel Wilberforce; their granddaughter, Octavia Wilberforce, established Wilberforce Library, Backsettown, to which this volume was later transferred.