The Farmer's Boy A Rural Poem 1803 Robert Bloomfield Antiquarian Leather HC Good

Hopkins & Seymour, 1803. Antiquarian leather bound hardcover of The Farmer's Boy; A Rural Poem by Robert Bloomfield.

Bloomfield's pastoral masterpiece recounts the seasonal labors and quiet observations of Giles, a young laborer in the English countryside. Robert Bloomfield (1766–1823), known as the "Shoemaker Poet," famously composed the verses entirely in his head while working in a London cobbler's shop. Upon its release in 1800, the poem became an international sensation, selling an unprecedented 26,000 copies in under three years.

This 1803 volume represents the peak of "Bloomfield-mania" in America, fueled by a public appetite for pastoral literature that romanticized the vanishing way of agrarian life.

This book is distinguished by the wood engravings of Alexander Anderson, the "Father of American Wood Engraving." A former physician who turned to art after losing his entire family to yellow fever, Anderson revolutionized the field as the first in America to engrave on end-grain boxwood. This technical innovation allowed for metal-like detail and durability.

Good condition. Light warping to the bottom of the boards. Leather cracking at the cover hinges. Chipping to the leather of the crown of the spine. Small holes to the material of the top of the spine. Binding solid. Presentation inscription to the first blank page. Interior pages crisp and clean. Solid book with shelf wear.