Hungary: An Ode
EDWARDS, John
Hungary: An Ode
Liverpool: Printed by Tho[ma]s Kaye’ [?for the author], 1849.
8vo., comprised of two bifolia sheets (12.5 x 20cm folded, 20 x 25cm unfolded), printed in black on watermarked paper, with title inside decorative border with floral and fleur-de-lis cornerpieces; unbound, as issued; pp. [viii] (title, blank, dedication, blank); a couple of light creases, else near-fine. Provenance: with presentation inscription to Mrs Buckley in black ink to the upper margin of the title page.
First and only edition. An unrecorded Hungaricum, with presentation inscription from the author.
Beginning with the rousing cry: ‘Oh! listen! listen! patriots’ cries, / And mournful requiems rend the skies, / […] Hungaria weeps’, Edwards’ poem continues by contrasting the beauty of the Hungarian countryside with the terrors of submission to Austria, and proclaims ‘Kossuth! thy name is treasured still’. He concludes by calling upon Russia, England, France and Turkey to support Hungary in its struggle with Austria: ‘Let kindred realms all join to free / The struggling brave who look to ye. / Be bold in Freedom’s cause!’.
Dated 28th November 1849, the poem was written the month after the conclusion of the Hungarian Revolution, and is dedicated to Lord Dudley Coutts Stuart (1803-1854) the Liberal politician who married Princess Christine Bonaparte (Napoleon’s niece) in 1824. Stuart was a passionate advocate of Polish independence, and was sympathetic in general to the cause of the Eastern European peoples against Russia. Using his position as MP for Arundel, he extended his campaign to the Hungarian cause in 1848 and, after the revolution had been crushed with Russian help, he argued for the British support of Hungarian refugees stranded in Turkey.
When Stuart re-entered Parliament as the member for Marylebone in 1847, and while continental Europe was in turmoil, “Lord Dudley shared the opinion that the restoration of Poland was very close. He tried to gain active support in Whitehall for that idea but with no positive results. Once hopes for Poland had vanished, he started to organize help for Hungarians, who were fighting for independence. After the suppression of the Hungarian uprising (1849) he was among those who insisted on firm British action in defence of several thousand emigrants who took refuge in Turkey and whose extradition was demanded by eastern powers” (ODNB). When Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894), the leader of the Hungarian Revolution arrived in England in 1851, Stuart met him and became a firm supporter of his cause.
We have been unable to trace another copy of the publication in any institution, nor can we find any copies presently on the market. The last known example was sold as part of a Liverpool scrapbook in Edinburgh (2005) which was listed as containing information on the Edwards family of Liverpool. Given the scarcity of the work, and the fact that the previous example was described with an ‘ink presentation inscription on title’, we assume that the present example is that same copy.
EDWARDS, John
Hungary: An Ode
Liverpool: Printed by Tho[ma]s Kaye’ [?for the author], 1849.
8vo., comprised of two bifolia sheets (12.5 x 20cm folded, 20 x 25cm unfolded), printed in black on watermarked paper, with title inside decorative border with floral and fleur-de-lis cornerpieces; unbound, as issued; pp. [viii] (title, blank, dedication, blank); a couple of light creases, else near-fine. Provenance: with presentation inscription to Mrs Buckley in black ink to the upper margin of the title page.
First and only edition. An unrecorded Hungaricum, with presentation inscription from the author.
Beginning with the rousing cry: ‘Oh! listen! listen! patriots’ cries, / And mournful requiems rend the skies, / […] Hungaria weeps’, Edwards’ poem continues by contrasting the beauty of the Hungarian countryside with the terrors of submission to Austria, and proclaims ‘Kossuth! thy name is treasured still’. He concludes by calling upon Russia, England, France and Turkey to support Hungary in its struggle with Austria: ‘Let kindred realms all join to free / The struggling brave who look to ye. / Be bold in Freedom’s cause!’.
Dated 28th November 1849, the poem was written the month after the conclusion of the Hungarian Revolution, and is dedicated to Lord Dudley Coutts Stuart (1803-1854) the Liberal politician who married Princess Christine Bonaparte (Napoleon’s niece) in 1824. Stuart was a passionate advocate of Polish independence, and was sympathetic in general to the cause of the Eastern European peoples against Russia. Using his position as MP for Arundel, he extended his campaign to the Hungarian cause in 1848 and, after the revolution had been crushed with Russian help, he argued for the British support of Hungarian refugees stranded in Turkey.
When Stuart re-entered Parliament as the member for Marylebone in 1847, and while continental Europe was in turmoil, “Lord Dudley shared the opinion that the restoration of Poland was very close. He tried to gain active support in Whitehall for that idea but with no positive results. Once hopes for Poland had vanished, he started to organize help for Hungarians, who were fighting for independence. After the suppression of the Hungarian uprising (1849) he was among those who insisted on firm British action in defence of several thousand emigrants who took refuge in Turkey and whose extradition was demanded by eastern powers” (ODNB). When Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894), the leader of the Hungarian Revolution arrived in England in 1851, Stuart met him and became a firm supporter of his cause.
We have been unable to trace another copy of the publication in any institution, nor can we find any copies presently on the market. The last known example was sold as part of a Liverpool scrapbook in Edinburgh (2005) which was listed as containing information on the Edwards family of Liverpool. Given the scarcity of the work, and the fact that the previous example was described with an ‘ink presentation inscription on title’, we assume that the present example is that same copy.
EDWARDS, John
Hungary: An Ode
Liverpool: Printed by Tho[ma]s Kaye’ [?for the author], 1849.
8vo., comprised of two bifolia sheets (12.5 x 20cm folded, 20 x 25cm unfolded), printed in black on watermarked paper, with title inside decorative border with floral and fleur-de-lis cornerpieces; unbound, as issued; pp. [viii] (title, blank, dedication, blank); a couple of light creases, else near-fine. Provenance: with presentation inscription to Mrs Buckley in black ink to the upper margin of the title page.
First and only edition. An unrecorded Hungaricum, with presentation inscription from the author.
Beginning with the rousing cry: ‘Oh! listen! listen! patriots’ cries, / And mournful requiems rend the skies, / […] Hungaria weeps’, Edwards’ poem continues by contrasting the beauty of the Hungarian countryside with the terrors of submission to Austria, and proclaims ‘Kossuth! thy name is treasured still’. He concludes by calling upon Russia, England, France and Turkey to support Hungary in its struggle with Austria: ‘Let kindred realms all join to free / The struggling brave who look to ye. / Be bold in Freedom’s cause!’.
Dated 28th November 1849, the poem was written the month after the conclusion of the Hungarian Revolution, and is dedicated to Lord Dudley Coutts Stuart (1803-1854) the Liberal politician who married Princess Christine Bonaparte (Napoleon’s niece) in 1824. Stuart was a passionate advocate of Polish independence, and was sympathetic in general to the cause of the Eastern European peoples against Russia. Using his position as MP for Arundel, he extended his campaign to the Hungarian cause in 1848 and, after the revolution had been crushed with Russian help, he argued for the British support of Hungarian refugees stranded in Turkey.
When Stuart re-entered Parliament as the member for Marylebone in 1847, and while continental Europe was in turmoil, “Lord Dudley shared the opinion that the restoration of Poland was very close. He tried to gain active support in Whitehall for that idea but with no positive results. Once hopes for Poland had vanished, he started to organize help for Hungarians, who were fighting for independence. After the suppression of the Hungarian uprising (1849) he was among those who insisted on firm British action in defence of several thousand emigrants who took refuge in Turkey and whose extradition was demanded by eastern powers” (ODNB). When Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894), the leader of the Hungarian Revolution arrived in England in 1851, Stuart met him and became a firm supporter of his cause.
We have been unable to trace another copy of the publication in any institution, nor can we find any copies presently on the market. The last known example was sold as part of a Liverpool scrapbook in Edinburgh (2005) which was listed as containing information on the Edwards family of Liverpool. Given the scarcity of the work, and the fact that the previous example was described with an ‘ink presentation inscription on title’, we assume that the present example is that same copy.