Books and Manuscripts

Herbert, George
The Temple. Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations
Cambridge: Printed by T. Buck, and R. Daniel, 1633. The second Edition. 12mo. (viii), 192, (4) pp. Edited by Nicolas Ferrar. Contemporary full brown calf, stamped in gilt, loss in lower spine, smaller loss to headcap, extremities and boards rubbed and worn; all edges gilt; marbled endpapers; 19th century ownership inscription on front and rear paste-downs; title-page moderately worn and soiled, ownership signature on verso of same, now crossed out; 19th century ownership signature at top of dedication leaf; ink scrawl on verso of final leaf. STC 13185; ESTC S117354; Pforzheimer 466

A handsome and scarce second edition of George Herbert's (1593-1633) collected poetry, considered one of Britain's foremost devotional lyricists. Published the same year as the first edition, "this is a resetting with merely literal variations, except for one line, of the first edition" (Pforzheimer). During his lifetime only Herbert's various Latin and Greek poems were published, and as he lay dying of consumption he entrusted to his neighbor and friend, Nicholas Ferrar, a manuscript volume of his unpublished poetry. Ferrar edited the volume, and within a few weeks the first edition of his English poetry was published to great popularity and acclaim, influencing contemporaries such as Henry Vaughan, Richard Crashaw, and Thomas Traherne. Its popularity saw it published in 11 different editions in the 17th century alone.