An exceptional, complete, and unmarked copy of "Poems, Supposed to Have Been Written at Bristol by Thomas Rowley, and Others, in the Fifteenth Century." Printed in Cambridge by B. Flower for the Editor in 1794, it was sold by the printer and notable booksellers of the time. This edition features the first printed appearance of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Monody on the Death of Chatterton" (pages xxv-xxvii), likely his earliest poetic work and his second publication as a poet, following "The Fall of Robespierre" printed the same year. The book contains one of literature's most famous hoaxes by Thomas Chatterton, who, at just 17, claimed to have uncovered a medieval manuscript by a monk named Thomas Rowley. 
 
The volume is an Octavo (5 9/16 x 8 7/8") ~ 329 pages, including a Glossary of Uncommon Words, an Explanation of the Letters of Reference, and a 33-page Glossary. It retains its probable original mottled calf binding with intricate gilt-stamped titles and decorations on the spine and marbled endpapers. This fifth edition includes an additional engraved title page and the facsimile plate (often missing) as called for opposite page 197. The binding shows typical wear at corners, edges, and joints, with a chip to the leather at the upper headcap. The interior pages remain clean and unmarked, with light toning. The association between Coleridge and Chatterton makes this volume particularly significant and highly desirable for collectors. 
 
Provenance: From the library of dedicated collector Richard Neff of Sugar Hill, New Hampshire. Tipped in is a description of this very book on Charles Scribner's Sons, New York letterhead from their rare book department at Fifth Avenue and 48th Street. A March 26, 1930, listing notes the book was sold to a previous owner for $85, with Scribner's price still penciled on the front blank preliminary page.