Modern Greece. A Poem by [HEMANS, FELICIA DOROTHEA] - 1817

London: John Murray, 1817, 1817. First edition. NCBEL III, 383; Jackson, Romantic Poetry by Women, page 152. Fine copy.. 8vo, recent red quarter morocco period-style by Philip Dusel, marbled paper boards, gilt decorations and lettering. Half-title present. A scarce and early work by Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793-1835), an interesting long poem on Greek independence, à la Byron's Childe Harold. In her poem Hemans defends the acquisition of the Elgin Marbles, but bemoans what she thinks is the English obsession with empire building at the expense of cultural achievement. Modern Greece, published anonymously, was sometimes attributed to Byron, as it was on a subject dear to him and published by his publisher, John Murray.