Reliques of Ancient English Poetry

The publication of Percy's Reliques marked the point at which 18th century neo-classicism became late 18th century Gothic Romanticism. A superb example of period publishing, it contains scarce proofsheets, excluded from the original edition.

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The Reliques is a collection of ballads, songs, romances and historical poetry, annotated with Percy's literary-antiquarian observations. It is a seminal text in English literature, one that profoundly influenced writers from Thomas Chatterton to Wordsworth, Coleridge and Keats and the Pre-Raphaelites. Until now, the first edition has not been available to scholars of the eighteenth century and British and European Romanticism. A superb example of period publishing, it includes scarce proofsheets, excluded from the original edition, as well as new critical and bibliographical introduction.