PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY (1792-1822)

Queen Mab, a visionary and ideological poem in nine cantos, was written during Shelley's early period of political activism and published privately in 1813. The prose "Notes," some of which form substantial essays, show the influence of the revolutionary ideals of the 1790s. This copy has the rare leaf "To Harriet" at the end. Shelley had married Harriet Westbrook after they eloped together in 1811. He left her in 1814 to elope with Mary Godwin, and in 1816 Harriet drowned herself in the Serpentine.