DYER, John.

The Fleece: a Poem. In four Books ...

London: Printed for R. and J. Dodsley ... 1757. 4to., pp. [4], 156, a fine copy, stitched as issued, uncut and unopened, in the original blue paper wrappers, the wrappers stiffened both front and back by lining with a discarded first issue title-page of William Mason’s Odes, 1756, where the vignette was printed upside down (this was corrected by cancellation: it is interesting to see that the cancellanda were not simply thrown away, but were thriftily reused here, and presumably for other copies of Dyer in wrappers if any survive). A splendid copy, and a bibliographical curiosity. First edition of Dyer’s last and most famous poem, a long neo-Georgic that has had its critics (‘The subject, Sir, cannot be made poetical’), although the landscape and gentle melancholy provide some relief from sheep and point the way toward rural poety in a more romantic vein. Wordsworth was one admirer, and addressed a sonnet to Dyer. Printed by Samuel Richardson. Hayward 176.

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