Despondency - An Ode

A single sheet, folded to 19 x 24.5cm, with four sides of handwritten text, including a handwritten copy of Burns’ deeply melancholic poem, Despondency; two stanzas from Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure; and two from William Mason - the first from Caractacus and Elfrida; some light creasing and browning to edges; paper watermarked ‘L Park 1797’ to one side, and their crest to the other; a very good survival. 

A lovely, near-contemporary manuscript transcription of Robert Burns’ famous poem (first published in 1786), along with portions taken from Shakespeare and William Mason, the latter whom had died on the 7th April 1797. Written in a neat, flowing italics, the poems show the owner and writer’s interest in important poets of the period, with melancholic, romantic and deeply religious themes, respectively.  

SKU: 1800157