Phantasmion is a beautiful story; even the reviewers of the 1874 edition had to concede to that even if they didn't like it at all.

The narrative traces the development of Prince Phantasmion to his position as king, and husband, with the help of the benevolent insect fairy, Potentilla.

It is an odd story which hangs between the anxieties of Romantic and Victorian fiction and has been little read, even in this age of critical appreciation of marginalised texts by women.

This edition of it by Jonathan Wordsworth, is a well-made facsimile of the 1837 text; it does nothing to provide a much needed bibliography, and the details of the plot on the dust-jacket are wrong and seem to be taken from the fourth edition of the Oxford Companion to English Literature. So please don't be surprised if Phantasmion DOESN'T turn into a flying serpent.

Still, it's back in print and we can forgive anyone for the above errors.

For those interested in Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his family, this book gives a glimpse into the life of his daughter, Sara Coleridge. It is also a view of life in England in the 19th century and the role of woman in those times. Sara was instumental in preserving her father's work along with her husband, Henry Nelson Coleridge.