Melaia; and other Poems. by COOK, Eliza.

Melaia; and other Poems. by COOK, Eliza. < >
  • Another image of Melaia; and other Poems. by COOK, Eliza.
  • Another image of Melaia; and other Poems. by COOK, Eliza.
  • Another image of Melaia; and other Poems. by COOK, Eliza.
  • Another image of Melaia; and other Poems. by COOK, Eliza.

~ Melaia; and other Poems. London: [Cunningham and Salmon for] R. J. Wood, Dispatch Office, 1838.

8vo (105 × 160 mm), pp. viii, 202, including Baxter-printed title, plus similarly printed frontispiece (both leaves slightly browned). Publisher’s blindstamped blue-green cloth, gilt edges, yellow endpapers with binder’s ticket (Rowley). Slightly rubbed and soiled, joints expertly repaired. Early pencil gift inscription. Later calf slipcase, spine gilt. An excellent copy.

First edition of the second collection by this south London working class poet. ‘The sentiments expressed in Cook's poetry and prose reflect her efforts to break free from the societal limitations imposed on her class and gender. A woman who prided herself on her tiny hands and feet, Cook dressed in unconventionally masculine attire and wore her hair short. J. Leach notes that Cook's dress 'proclaimed a determination to be herself' and relates how an 1851 story in the New York Times describes her as 'Tilting back in her chair, planting both feet on the fender', and 'bluffly order[ing] a glass of beer' (Leach, 157). Cook was also most probably a lesbian. She never married, and from 1845 to 1849 she was closely linked with the American actress Charlotte Cushman (1816–1876), to whom she wrote passionate poetic tributes ('To Charlotte Cushman')’ (Solveig C. Robinson in Oxford DNB).

The frontispiece depicting ‘The Old Water Mill’ bears Baxter imprint and states ‘printed in oil colours’ while the title-page vignette (depicting an English ship at sea) is similarly printed. These examples date from the first decade of George Baxter’s patent for his colour prints in which an intaglio plate, usually aquatint, was printed first, and then colours added with up multiple woodblocks. In both prints the darker colours have a characteristic depth and sheen. Melaia was reprinted in 1840, but the first edition with Baxter prints is exceptionally scarce. Worldcat lists a single copy (UC Davis, Kohler collection), JISC lists UK copies at BL, Birmingham and Cambridge.

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