The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 1973 Heritage Press hardcover with slipcase. 67 pages, very nice condition.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, first published in 1798. It recounts the experiences of a sailor who has returned from a long sea voyage. The mariner stops a man who is on his way to a wedding ceremony and begins to narrate a story. The Wedding-Guest’s reaction turns from bemusement to impatience to fear to fascination as the mariner's story progresses. Coleridge uses narrative techniques such as personification and repetition to create a sense of danger, the supernatural, or serenity.

This volume is brilliantly illustrated by Edward A. Wilson (1886 – 1970). He was an American illustrator, printmaker, and commercial artist. Wilson illustrated many classic novels, including Robinson Crusoe (1930), The Man Without a Country (1936), Treasure Island (1941), and Jane Eyre (1944). Later, he produced illustrations for magazines and a number of World War II propaganda posters.