London: Printed for J. Harris, 1809. First edition. Small octavo (leaves measuring 148 x 91 mm). 52 pp. Complete, with five plates (including frontispiece). A Very Good copy. Contemporary quarter red roan over marbled boards with printed paper label. Hinges and edges of boards rubbed. Upper hinge a bit fragile. Toning and foxing to endpapers.

The Flowers; or, the Sylphid Queen, a fantastical narrative poem about a young woman's journey to the land of the fairies, was the first book by Alicia Le Fanu (1791 - 1867) published when she was just eighteen. Alicia belonged to a family of numerous writers, artists, and performers: her grandfather was the actor Thomas Sheridan (1719 - 1788); her uncle was the author Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751 - 1816); and her many cousins included the renowned horror author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814 - 1873) and the controversial writer and reformer Caroline, Lady Stirling-Maxwell (1808 - 1877). Alicia went on to publish eight more works, including novels, long poems, and a biography of her grandmother, the novelist and playwright Frances Sheridan (1724 - 1766).

Jackson, Romantic Poetry by Women, p. 198. Very Good (Item #8064)