Beschreibung:

SHELLEY, Percy Bysshe (1792-1822). Autograph letter signed to Charles Ollier, Marlow 13 December 1817, two pages, 4to , integral address leaf (a strip torn from upper margin of both leaves, reattached to first leaf with loss of one fragment affecting two words, the tear touching four words; strip lacking on second leaf, with loss of part of address panel); in a red morocco backed case. Provenance : Purchased from James Drake New York, 30 January 1940, $175. AN IMPORTANT LETTER RELATING TO THE SUPPRESSION OF 'LAON AND CYNTHIA'. Ollier's letter that morning has altered Shelley's perception of the question: 'No one is to be blamed, however heavy & unexpected is my disappointment'; Shelley urges an immediate meeting, although his health prevents his coming to town; instead he sends his servant, 'in a strong feeling of the necessity of instant communication with you ' and invites Ollier to stay at Marlow: 'The mails which pass within a short distance of my house, leave Piccadilly at eight o Clock, & you will find a friendly welcome & a warm fire at the end of your journey'. The publisher Charles Ollier had agreed to issue Shelley's 'Laon and Cynthia', and printing was already completed by 25 November 1817 when Ollier's unease about the relationship of the protagonists and the poem's anti-Christian sentiments led to his demanding cuts. It was at the meeting proposed by this letter that Shelley agreed to Ollier's changes, and to the poem's issue as 'The Revolt of Islam'.