This is Collins’s first major work and is rare: a note on the verso of the contents page in a near-contemporary hand quotes Johnson ““At length, in 1746, he [i.e. Collins] had spirit enough to exert himself so far as to publish his odes descriptive & allegorical; but as the sale was by no means equal to his expectation he conceived an indignation for a tasteless age, & burnt the remaining copies with his own hands”. Johnson”. ESTC does not list any copy not in facsimile or on microfilm and OCLC seems to believe too that every copy is a facsimile (there were a number of different facsimiles made).This work was published the same year as Joseph Warton’s Odes, indeed the two had thought to publish together, but instead they enjoyed separately tepid receptions of their work. This high-spot of English lyric poetry has always been considered rare.Provenance: Arthur A. Houghton, sold Christie’s 13th June 1979, lot 129, £800. There were two copies in this sale, this being the second of the two (the other sold for £1,100).
