8vo. viii, 244pp. With a half-title. Bound by Burn of London in original publisher's gilt-stamped green cloth. A trifle rubbed, spine slightly dulled. Armorial bookplate of Stephen George Holland and later ticket of Burrell of Chelmsford to FEP, early inked ownership inscription to recto of FFEP.

The first edition of Matthew Arnold's (1822-1888) New Poems, within which all but seven poems are printed for the first time. Among these is the famous 'Dover Beach', sometimes cited as the first occurrence of modernist sensibility in verse, which was later referenced in a swathe of subsequent literature and popular culture, including Bradbury's Farenheit 451 (1953), Heller's Catch-22 (1961), Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle (1940), and even the musical Cabaret (1966). This collection also includes several reprints from Arnold's Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems (1852) - despite an initial lacklustre reception, Arnold was compelled to also reissue Empedocles in 1867 after encouragement from fellow poet Robert Browning.