GOLDSMITH, Oliver (1728-1774). The Deserted Village, A Poem. London: Printed for W. Griffin, 1770.

First edition, finely bound, from the library of the infamous H. Buxton Forman. Forman was a Victorian collector and bibliographer who, along with his colleague Thomas James Wise, perpetrated a major fraud on the bibliophilic community by creating forgeries of non-existent literary works. Rothschild 1032.

Quarto (227 x 180mm). Half-title, engraved vignette on title by I. Taylor (tear at gutter extending through some text neatly repaired throughout). 19th-century calf gilt by Riviere & Son (a little wear at spine ends, small nick to one raised band). Provenance: H. Buxton Forman (bookplate, his sale, Anderson Galleries, 15 March 1920, lot 311) – Christie's New York, 20 April 1979, lot 267.