Autograph manuscript leaf signed from Sir Theodore Martin 1889

MARTIN (Sir Theodore, 1816–1909).
 
Autograph Manuscript Leaf Signed, quoting Heinrich Heine, dated June 1889. 1 p., 8vo, in ink on laid paper, the verso with old paper adhesions, crease and an old fold. Good. 
 
From Heinrich Heine’s Poems and Ballads in Martin’s hand, written out and signed is this quotation:
 
“The rose, the lily, the sun, and the dove,
I loved them all with a passion of love.
That is past; now one only is dear to me,
My pretty, my witty, pure, peerless she;
She herself, source of all that is worthy love,
Is rose, and lily, and sun, and dove.”
From Heine, by Theodore Martin. June 1889.
 
Sir Theodore’s acclaimed English translation of Heine’s Buch der Lieder (1854) introduced the German poet’s lyrical romanticism to Victorian readers and influenced later Anglophone verse renderings. This autograph transcription—made thirty-five years later—shows Martin’s lasting affection for Heine’s poetry.
 
Sir Theodore Martin was a Scottish poet, translator and man of letters, best known for his translations of Heine, Horace, and Catullus, and for his monumental Life of the Prince Consort. He was also the husband of the celebrated Shakespearean actress and author of On Some of Shakespeare’s Female Characters, Lady Helen (Faucit) Martin. It is rare to find a manuscript leaf like this from him.