Don Juan, Lord Byron — Pirated Edition

£135.00

Don Juan, Lord Byron — Pirated Edition

Name: Don Juan, Lord Byron — Pirated Edition
Brand: Broadhursts Books
SKU: 4270
Price: 135.00 GBP
Availability: InStock

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£135.00

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Publication: London, Hodgson & Co., 1823

Formatting: 16mo, unpaginated.

Condition Report: Fair. The book is bound in heavily worn and sunned early cloth, exhibiting significant rubbing, staining, and fraying across the boards and at the spine extremities. Internally, the front inner hinge is deeply split with the binding cords exposed, leaving the text-block quite tender and slightly cocked. While the pages are fully intact, they display noticeable age-toning and scattered soiling typical of the lower-quality paper stock used in affordable printings of the era, though the text and frontispiece remain completely clear and legible.

Catalogue Note: This is a notably scarce and early pirated edition of Byron's masterpiece, capitalising on the immense popularity and controversy of the original, more expensive quartos. Produced for the mass market by the radical publisher William Hodgson, this affordable printing famously features a "Preface by a Clergyman". This addition served as a clever, albeit thin, contemporary defence of the poem's scandalous themes.

The volume is complete with a handsome engraved frontispiece portrait of the author in profile. Of particular historical interest is a straightforward contemporary ownership signature in ink on the preliminary leaf, reading "Jos.h Sawyer, July. 7 1830". This 1830 inscription, paired with the plain cloth binding, acts as a solid temporal marker of the book's transition from early underground print culture into the hands of a 19th-century reader.

Lord Byron's Don Juan remains one of the greatest satirical epics in the English language. Rather than portraying the legendary, heartless seducer of Spanish folklore, Byron reimagines Juan as an innocent young man easily led astray by the women he encounters. Across sweeping and inventive rhyming stanzas, the poem boldly skewers the hypocrisies, social mores, and political figures of early 19th-century Europe, standing as a triumphant masterpiece of Romantic rebellion.

Book Condition: Fair

Book Authors: Lord Byron

Book Publisher: Hodgson & Co.

Book Language: English

Narrative Type: Antiquarian

Genre: Poetry

Book edition: Special Edition

Signed: No

Book Pages:

Book Publication Year: 1823

Book Publication Date:

Book Binding: Hardcover (Cloth)

Illustrator: N/A

Book Series: N/A

Country/region of manufacture: London, United Kingdom

Book Dimensions:

Book Condition Guide

We stock thousands of books in a wide range of conditions. To make things clear and to help you know exactly what to expect, Please refer to these condition categories to understand the condition of the book you will receive.

Condition	Description
New	A brand-new, unread and professionally handled book. Carefully preserved from publication to purchase, these books are offered in the best attainable condition. This grade applies to recently published titles that have not entered long-term storage.
As New	The book is in pristine, original condition as if just published. No signs of use or handling. The dust jacket (if present) is equally flawless. This grade applies to any book that has remained untouched in storage for years.
Fine	The book is close to As New. It remains bright and attractive, but could show minor imperfections to the boards and/or dust jacket (if present). Its pages are typically clean and unmarked.
Near Fine	The book has a number of small flaws, i.e. slight rubbing to the edges, or tiny chips or creases to the dust jacket (if present). Its pages may have faint marks, or creases that are barely perceptible — nothing that detracts from their overall condition.
Very Good	The book maintains its structural integrity, and has no major flaws such as tears to its binding or pages. It may, however, show signs of careful use, handling, or storage — small marks and creases, light foxing. Its dust jacket (if present) remains fully intact, but small tears may be present.
Good	A book that remains intact and readable with complete text pages, but shows moderate signs of wear and use to both the book and dust jacket (if present). It may have noticeable creases, nicks, or stains, and the spine likely shows fading, bumping, and rubbing. There could be writing, underlining, and other marks on some pages, though the majority will be clean and tidy.
Fair	A book with significant wear or damage. The text pages will be complete, but there may be heavy underlining, highlighting and staining throughout, and the book’s endpapers, half-title, and copyright pages could be damaged or missing. The binding could be loose, and the dust jacket (if present) may have notable scuffs or tears. These copies are usually of interest for content, signature(s) or scarcity.
Poor	A heavily worn book whose value lies in its complete and legible text. A poor book will have substantial defects — loose joints or hinges, detached covers, loose and/or missing pages, and could be heavily soiled. A poor book is also known as a reading copy, and although compromised, can hold historical or bibliographic significance.