Poems & Plays of Oliver Goldsmith

Born sometime around 1730 Oliver Goldsmith was an Irish writer who wrote a large collection of works in his life time, primarily novels, poems and plays. He is famous for writing "The Vicar of Wakefield" and "The Deserted Village" and may be the author of a children's tale that coined the phrase "goody two-shoes".

Title: The Poems & Plays of Oliver Goldsmith
Author: Unknown (part of The Lansdowne Poets series)
Publisher: Frederick Warne & Co.
Publication year: Unknown (see description below)
Pages: 482

This book has dark red cloth boards with gorgeous gilt and black embossed lettering and illustration on the front and spine as well as an uncoloured pattern embossed on the back. The spine is heavily discoloured and very dark in comparison to the covers, while the back board has a few black ink marks across the middle. The top and bottom of the spine and the corners of the boards are lightly frayed.

Inside the book the spine is in good condition. There is some cracking between the front cover and the first page, but the binding is secure and all pages are present. The pages are mostly clean with a few light damp marks and odd bits of foxing scattered throughout.

There is a dedication on the first page which reads "H A Harrison, with Mother's love".

There is no publication date in this book and no date was included with the dedication. However the front cover identifies this book as part of "The Lansdowne Poets" series which was published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Given that this book has the same beautifully illustrated covers that others in the series have, it should be safe to assume that this book dates from the turn of the 20th century.

Overall this book is in good condition and would make a nice addition to the bookcase of any vintage fan. With a bit of care this book should last for many more years.