The Diaries

First published in 1907 from notebooks and later reminiscence, these diaries of the Irish poet William Allingham record Victorian literary life from mid-century to the 1880s. Allingham sets down talks and walks with Tennyson on the Isle of Wight, visits to Carlyle in Chelsea, and meetings with Rossetti and other Pre-Raphaelites, along with his own customs work and quiet domestic days. The entries mix overheard remarks, portraits, and ordinary weather. There is no plot. The book is a spectator's journal of writers and painters, not a collected edition of Allingham's verse.

Bound in green cloth, blocked on cover and spine with a gilt design. Dark green endleaves. Green slipcase.