Endymion: A Poetic Romance by Keats, John - 1818

London: for Taylor and Hessey, 1818. First edition, first issue, with imprint on verso of half-title reading "Printed by T. Miller, Noble street, Cheapside." and with integral erratum leaf and inserted 5-line errata tipped-in at rear. ix, [iii], 207, [1], [4, ads dated 1 May 1818]. 8vo. Uncut in original publisher's boards, printed paper title label to spine. Minor wear to spine ends, some very light browning in places and occasional pencil underlining, slight creasing to the erratum leaf, bookplate removed from front pastedown. First edition, first issue, with imprint on verso of half-title reading "Printed by T. Miller, Noble street, Cheapside." and with integral erratum leaf and inserted 5-line errata tipped-in at rear. ix, [iii], 207, [1], [4, ads dated 1 May 1818]. 8vo. Fine Copy in Boards. A near pristine copy in boards of the first edition, first issue, of the second of only three lifetime publications by Keats, comprising his longest single sustained poem, famous for its opening line: "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever." So savage and malevolent were the reviews of this poem by Blackwoods and the Quarterly--"Lockhart found it exquisitely funny that an apothecary, a fellow who confessedly knew no Greek, who had to read Homer in a translation, should venture on a classic theme" (MacGillivray)--that Keats' supporters thereafter blamed the reviewers for Keats' early death. A superb copy. MacGillivray A2; Ashley III:13; Tinker 1419; Hayward 232