The Poems of Mr. Gray. To which are added Memoirs of his Life and Writings.

1778

De Beer Eb 1778 G

Printed by A. Ward

The decorative book label on display is an apt one for Charles Francis Bell (1871-1966), who was head of the Fine Art Department at the Ashmolean Museum between 1909 and 1931. He counted as friends the Renaissance art scholar Bernard Berenson, T. E. Lawrence (‘Lawrence of Arabia’), and Kenneth Clark. He was fastidious, and did not suffer fools gladly. Bell was once observed kicking an exhibition catalogue that he thought poorly written across his library floor. This edition of Gray’s Poems is fine; and presumably did not meet with a similar fate.