WHITE, Gleeson, ed.
Ballades and Rondeaus, Chants Royal, Sestinas, Villanelles, &c., Selected, with Chapter on the Various Forms,
The printed dedication is to Robert Louis Stevenson, “since you were among the earliest to experiment in these French rhythms”. Despite that, none of his work is actually present, where they would have been alongside W.E. Henley, Le Gallienne, George Moore, Theo Marzials, Charles Sayle, Swinburne, Arthur Symons, Robert Bridges, and Oscar Wilde. Wilde makes a more surprising appearance in the advertisements as one of the advocates of an alarming sounding book called “Parental Commandments or, Warnings to Parents on the Physical, Intellectual, and Moral Training of their Children.” Curiosity leads us to a digital surrogate of this eccentric book, which alongside rather advanced strictures against the hazards of boarding school and cramming, has more practical bits of mis-information such as “Don’t give your child new potatoes” and “Don’t, especially whilst teething, cover the infant’s head with warm caps; this interferes with the vital activity of the brain, which is at that time very great.”
Spine label a little soiled, otherwise a near fine copy.
