BROWNING, Robert (1812-1889). Paracelsus. London: Effingham Wilson, 1835.

First edition of Browning’s acclaimed poem on the infamous Swiss alchemical physician. Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, also called Paracelsus, was an influential Renaissance practitioner of chemical medicine whose reputation as a hermetic mystic was bolstered not only by his own prolific work, but by the existence of many spurious texts later attributed to him. This made him a perfect subject for Browning’s exploration of human motivation, unrealized potential, and the tension between realism and idealism. One of Browning’s earliest works and subject to many later revisions, the first edition of Paracelsus sets out many of the author's lifelong thematic interests. Broughton A4.

Octavo (170 x 104mm). Half title, 36 pages of publisher’s advertisements dated January 1836 (some light foxing). Original drab boards, printed paper label to spine (rebacked preserving spine panel and label). Custom long-grain red morocco case by Bradstreet’s. Provenance: neat manuscript emendations from later recension – Joan and Fred Berne (bookplate).