Holograph extract of a translation from the German of Wieland's 'Oberon' by the English poet William Sotheby, beginning 'Sweet Isle! methinks once more I hear'.

1p., 8vo. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with traces of previous mounting along two edges. Headed, in a contemporary hand: 'Given to Mrs. Richards by Miss Calhoun Fanshawe'. 22 lines of verse, in couplets. Signed in the bottom right-hand corner, apparently at a later date than the rest of the text: 'William Sothbey | Sepr 26 - 1804'. The extract - possibly written out by Sotheby for an acquaintance - begins: 'Sweet Isle! methinks once more I hear | The fresh springs bubble on my ear: | Once more I see the flowrs [sic] expand | That drank the dew from Hassan's hand, | And the lithe tendrils of the vine | That round thy bowrs [sic] I taught to twine.' Sotheby held in high regard by the romantics, including Byron and Wordsworth. According to his entry in the Oxford DNB, 'In 1798, after rapidly acquiring a knowledge of German, he published Oberon: a Poem, a translation of Christoph Martin Wieland's Oberon, which had already achieved popularity in Europe. Wieland, to whom Sotheby sent a copy of his translation, expressed great satisfaction. A second edition, with illustrations by Fuseli, appeared in 1805. In 1802 Sotheby adapted it as a masque in five acts of blank verse called Oberon, or, Huon of Bourdeaux, which he dedicated to George Ellis.'