[MEYNELL, Alice] as “A. C. Thompson" (her maiden name).

Preludes by A. C. Thompson.

With Illustrations and Ornaments by Elizabeth Thompson. First edition. 8vo, viii, 84pp. Original green cloth, bevelled edges, elaborately stamped in gilt on the upper board, gilt lettering to spine, brown endpapers. London, Henry S. King & Co, 1875.

£585.00

The author’s first book. With illustrations by her sister Elizabeth. Errata slip tipped in between pp. viii and p.1.

“Her first published poems appeared as Preludes in 1875 and met with praise from Tennyson, Coventry Patmore, Aubrey de Vere, and John Ruskin. Wilfrid John Meynell (1852–1948), a young Roman Catholic journalist in London, read a review of her work in the Pall Mall Gazette, and his admiration for the poems led to a meeting. The couple fell in love and, after overcoming parental opposition over Meynell’s lack of money, they were married in London at the church of the Servite Fathers on 16 April 1877.” (ODNB)

Unobtrusive damp-stain along bottom edge of preliminaries and rubber stamp on half-title. Very good copy of a book rarely seen in such a bright condition. In an archival sleeve.

Stock No.
237691