Ashley MS 1394

'Eden Bower': a poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti; 19 to end of Sept. 1869. Autograph drafts, heavily revised, and fair copy, apparently representing the whole sequence of composition of the poem. First printed in Poems, 1870, pp. 31-40. The volume was misbound by Wise, and the correct order of ff. should be 14, 2-3, 15, 1, 1b, 4, 16-21, 6, 5, 7, 8-13. The contents, in chronological order, are as follows:―

1. Pencil draft of stanza 1, written on both sides of an octavo leaf of ruled cream laid paper. Watermark J Allen & Sons / Super Fine. f. 14.

2. Draft stanzas, corresponding to 1, 3, 5-7, 9, 10 of the printed version, and including a discarded stanza, written on both sides of one octavo leaf of cream laid paper (f. 2), and one side only of another (f. 3). No watermark. The refrain of stanzas 1 and 3 has been revised from the version found in (1). ff. 2-3.

3. Drafts of the refrain, written on one side only of an octavo leaf of cream laid paper. No watermark. f. 15.

4. Draft stanzas, written one side only of two octavo leaves of cream laid paper. No watermark. The stanzas incorporate several of the revisions made in (2), corresponding to 1, 3, 5-7, 9, 10 of the printed version. ff. 1, 4.

5. Pencil drafts of additional stanzas, corresponding to 2, 4, 8 of the printed version, written one side only of two octavo leaves of cream laid paper. No watermark. ff. 15, 1b.

6. Fair copy of stanzas 1-10, incorporating the pencil revisions made in (4), written on one side only of five octavo leaves of ruled cream laid paper. Watermark J Allen & Sons / Super Fine. The refrain has been revised from the version found in (4). ff. 16-20.

7. Three additional stanzas, corresponding to 11-13 of the printed version, written at the end of (6). The new form of the refrain found in (6) has been adopted from the outset. ff. 20, 21.

8. Draft stanzas, corresponding to 14-18, 24-27 of the printed version, written on both sides of one octavo leaf of cream laid paper (f. 6), and one side only of another (f. 5). No watermark. ff. 6, 6b, 5.

9. Additional draft stanzas, corresponding to 19-23 of the printed version, written on one side only of an octavo leaf of cream laid paper. No watermark. f. 7.

10. Second draft of stanzas 24-27, in several places revised from the version found in (8), written on one side only of an octavo leaf of cream laid paper. No watermark. f. 8.

11. Draft stanzas, corresponding to 28-39 of the printed version, written on both sides of three octavo leaves of cream laid paper (ff. 8, 10, 11), and one side only of another (f. 9). No watermark. ff. 8-11.

12. Draft stanzas, corresponding to 40-49 (last in the poem) of the printed version, written on both sides of one octavo leaf of cream laid paper (f. 11), and one side only of two others (ff. 12, 13). No watermark. In these stanzas the final form of the refrain, as found in the printed version, has been adopted. ff. 11-13.

13. The printed text of the poem, i.e. pp. 31-40 of Poems, 1870. ff. 22-26b. Ashley Library Catalogue, viii, pp. 176-177.

Octavo; ff. iii+26.

Poetry ENGLISH: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, poet and painter: Poem, 'Eden Bower', by Dante Gabriel Rossetti: 1869: Autogr. drafts and fair copy.