William James Linton:

101) To The Future / The Dirge Of The Nations. 1848.

n.d. / n. p. (Hamden / CT ca.1895)

The 16-page pamphlet combines his two complementary Shelleyan hymns of revolutionary hope and failure, written in April and November 1848. The title is printed in colour. For illustration he reused vignettes of the Claribel stock and a Bob Thin engraving. The emblem on the back shows of a coat of arms in the style of a medieval seal with the inscription: Semper fidelis. The booklet can serve as a prime example of his tasteful re-editing of early works. “A stream of neatly printed books and pamphlets, nearly all of his authorship, issued from the press. It was not fine printing in special type-faces in the manner of the great private presses beginning in England in the 1880s, but the work is distinctive in its uncluttered setting and elegant distribution on the page. Linton’s printing style echoes the unpretentious grace of his engraving exemplar, Bewick, whose books he studied closely.” (F.B. Smith)