The poetical works of Oliver Goldsmith

This edition of The Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith was published in London by Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. During the early 19th century, this prominent publishing house played a significant role in distributing canonical British literature, often producing refined, accessible editions of established 18th-century authors like Goldsmith for a growing middle-class readership that prized classical aesthetics and standardized literary collections for their private libraries.

The volume reflects the design sensibilities of the era, which favored clean, readable typography and modest, elegant bindings suitable for the domestic parlor. While specific illustrator credits for this particular 1804 edition remain closely tied to the standard house style of the Longman firm, the work was received as a respectful tribute to Goldsmith's pastoral and sentimental verse. It provided a permanent, decorative home for poems such as The Deserted Village and The Traveller, cementing Goldsmith's legacy as a cornerstone of the English literary canon.