This book is entitled "Specimens of English Sonnets, Selected By The Rev. Alexander Dyce" and published in London by William Pickering in 1833, a penciled note on the first blank endpaper says "extra illustrated", and it comes in a fine binding by Riviere of London and Goodspeed of Boston. The book has five raised bands, six compartments with a black label, gilt lettering and gilt tooling on the spine, triple gilt-fillet borders on the polished calf covers, beautiful gilt dentelles with black endpapers and the bookplate of Richard Le Gallienne on the front paste-down, the illustrated title page followed by one page dedicated to William Wordsworth, two pages dedicated to Lord Surrey, who is credited here with introducing sonnets into the English language, then a two-page list of Sonnet writers in the book, including Sir Walter Raleigh, Spenser, William Shakespeare, John Milton, Thomas Gray, Coleridge, Wordsworth, and John Keats, followed by 224 pages of text, with beautiful engravings, and all the edges are gilt. Alexander Dyce (1798 - 1869) was a Scottish dramatic editor and literary historian. Born in Edinburgh and educated at Exeter College, he took his holy orders and became a curate in Cornwall, then settled in London. By the time of his death, he accumulated a vast library of rare Elizabethan books, which was bequeathed to the South Kensington Library (the Victoria and Albert Museum), and his wide knowledge of Elizabethan literature enabled him to explain much that was obscure in Shakespeare. Richard Le Gallienne (1866 - 1947) was an English author and poet who had an affair with Oscar Wilde and wrote for several newspapers under the name Logroller. Later on he moved to America and Paris, and he was known for drinking and womanizing, which led to his divorce in the early 1900's. The book measures 5 1/2 x 4 3/8 in. wide and is in great condition. The binding is tight and the pages and text are clean, with light browning and some offset from the engravings, a slight blemish on the black flyleaf in front, slight rubbing on the edges, and a great find for someone who is interested in sonnets or is a budding poet. #50 #5009