Poems: A Joking Word
London: Jonathan Cape, 1930. First edition. 171, [1] pp. Oatmeal cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine and blind on the rear board, with the dust jacket. Slight rubbing to head and tail of spine, some scattered foxing to cloth. Bookplate to front pastedown. Jacket shows some minor soiling, spine browned and slightly chipped at head, not affecting text, small snag to fore-edge of front flap. A nice example of a scarce book, especially in jacket.
The front flap notes, “This is the first comprehensive collection (1919-1929) of Laura Riding’s poems. It includes the substance not only of The Close Chaplet published in 1926 and of Love as Love, Death as Death, published in 1928, but also the deferred First Poems announced some seasons ago; and certain later poems.” Also includes a twelve page preface by the author. Riding’s biographer Deborah Baker said this book “made a decisive impact on an up-and-coming generation of English poets, among them W.H. Auden.” The “latter poems reveal a shift away from ‘obsession’… to a more ornate and conscious manipulation of language.” Wexler A9. Item #2286
Price: $900.00