Romantic Collecting: Keats Presentation

John Keats
Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes (1820)

Composition
Character and Personality Descriptions

Born: October 31st, 1795
A childhood friend said “the generosity & daring of his character- in passions of tears or outrageous fits of laughter always in extremes will help to paint Keats in his boyhood.
One of Keats focuses was the power of love. He fell in love with a neighbor, Fanny Brawn, and it is this passionate love that inspired many of his sonnets, such as Bright Star.
He was orphaned by the age of 19. It is because of his multiple experiences with death that Keats chooses to focus a lot on mortality/immortality and what that can entail.
There was an instance in which Keats realized his own mortality and that his death was near. He said
“…I know the color of that blood; it is arterial blood. I cannot be deceived in that color." Keats believed that "I have left no immortal work behind me - nothing to make my friends proud of my memory - but I have lov'd the principle of beauty in all things, and if I had had time I would have made myself remember'd."‘
Died: February 21st, 1821 at the age of 25

Keats on his deathbed.

"Here lies one whose name was writ in water"

Publication

Keats wrote his first poem in 1814, but was published two years after in 1816- at the age of 21.
Took a four month tour of the countryside in 1817 and wrote the first books of Endymion
Published his most successful book of poetry while bedridden, La Mia, Isabella, and The Eve of St. Agnes

This collection of poetry was written in 1819 and published in July of 1820, while Keats was bedridden with tuberculosis, a disease which had claimed the lives of numerous family members, including his brother who he nursed on his deathbed.
The book of poetry is composed of three major narrative poems, listed in the title, as well as several of his famous Odes (Grecian Urn, Nightingale, Psyche, and Melancholy)

Published by Taylor and Hessey
The three narrative poems all focus on some aspect of love, all are emotionally charged and focus on some aspect of it being an all consuming emotion (sadness, happiness, revenge, etc.)
First edition costs anywhere from $20,000-$30,000

Keats' dedication to Fanny

Part of the manuscript for Lamia, Isabella, and The Eve of St. Agnes

First edition of Lamia, Isabella, and The Eve of St. Agnes

The contents page for Lamia, Isabella, and The Eve of St. Agnes

Reception

Because poetry was the hobby of the rich Keats was called “ignorant and unsettled” and a “pretender” because of his lower socioeconomic status.
Slow sales but well received by critics and general audience
Keats said that if this book wasn't successful he would return to being an apothecary, an apprenticeship he had before he quite to pursue poetry full time.

Works Cited

"1820 - Publication of Keats’s Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes and Other Poems, Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound." Romanticism. Keats-Shelley House, 2010. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. <http://www.keats-shelley-house.org/en/romanticism/timeline-1820>.
Keats, John. "Lamia." The Literature Network, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2012. <http://www.online-literature.com/poe/2055/>.
"Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems." David Brass Rare Books. N.p., 2012. Web. 13 Oct. 2012. <http://www.davidbrassrarebooks.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-shopping-cart/single_book.php?sbook=1226>.
"The Life of John Keats." John Keats: Table of Contents. N.p., Mar. 2004. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. <http://englishhistory.net/keats/life.html>.

Romantic Collecting