Known principally as an important min-Victorian painter, James Noël Paton (1821-1901) also turned his had to writing poetry in his youth. As he notes in his dedication he felt that his writings were ‘Confusions of a wasted youth’ and probably decided on anonymity in case of a negative reception. This copy was presented to the Scottish minister William Hanna (1808–1882) who was at one time editor of The North British Review and a productive author and contributor to journals. A similarly inscribed copy with a different quote is held at UCLA, this is presented to Mrs Henry Bicknell, a daughter of the painter David Roberts and one imagines that Paton sent copies to both friends and possible future patrons of his paintings. OCLC records five copies in the UK, at the BL, Cambridge, Leeds, Aberdeen and Glasgow and three in North America, all in Canada, at Toronto, McMaster and Memorial University, Newfoundland.