DONNE, John (1573-1631). Biathanatos. A Declaration of that Paradoxe, or Thesis, that Selfe-homicide is not so Naturally Sinne, that it may never be otherwise. London: John Dawson [1647].

First edition, first issue, with the title undated. The earliest of Donne's controversial writings, published posthumously. Donne had always been reluctant to publish and was content to let the work, which expressed his doubts about the absolute sinfulness of suicide, circulate in manuscript. Lacking first blank. Keynes 47, Pforzheimer 292.

Quarto (190 x 140mm). (A little browning to preliminary leaves, title page a little frayed at upper margin.) Modern vellum. Provenance: manuscript note to title page – H.L. (stamp to title page) – Christopher Creswell, Eton, 1945 (gift bookplate loosely inserted).

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