Clearwater Books

CONRAD AIKEN. The Soldier. A poem. Editions Poetry, London 1946. First UK edition (originally published in the US two years previously), this copy inscribed by the author on the front endpaper and dated the year of publication. Slim 8vo. 40pp. Spine ends very lightly rubbed, endpapers a little spotted and printed on slightly sub-standard war-time paper-stock, yet still a very crisp and bright copy in tanned dust wrapper, a little chafed at extremities and with a single short closed tear and a minor accompanying crease. £50

KINGSLEY AMIS. Bright November. Poems. The Fortune Press, London [1964]. The second, unauthorised edition of the author’s uncommon first book. Slim 8vo. 32pp. A tiny hint of wear to the head of the spine, and  the upper board lifting just a fraction. One corner of front free endpaper clipped, presumably to remove a former owner name. A lovely crisp copy, internally flawless bar the aforementioned clipping. Housed in thin paper dust wrapper with the 12’6 price sticker to front flap. Wrapper tanned at the spine panel, a little chaffed at the rear flap joint, with some light sunning to some extremities and two small areas of loss from spine panel. Thirty-one poems. £150

“The renown of the author prompted Caton to produce this second edition, but his omission to inform [Amis] of the existence or to benefit him from its sales must be construed as being rather more than forgetful-ness” – Timothy d’Arch Smith, R.A. Caton and the Fortune Press.

KINGSLEY AMIS. The Evans Country. Poems. Fantasy Press, Oxford 1962. First edition. Stapled card wrappers. Wrappers lightly sunned and with a tiny smattering of foxing. Neat former owner name inked to title page. A good bright copy. Six poems, all of which appeared previously in The Spectator but are collected here for the first time. £35

SIMON ARMITAGE. Killing Time. A poem. Faber, London 1999. First edition. This copy signed by the author on the title page and dated the year after publication. Slim 8vo. 52pp. Card wrappers (never issued in casebound format). A fine unopened copy of this lengthy 1,000-line poem. £25

SIMON ARMITAGE. Seeing Stars. Poems. Faber, London 2010. First edition. Slim 8vo. 74pp. Red paper-covered boards. A single tiny indentation to the head of the rear board, else a fine copy in fine dust wrapper. Thirty-nine poems. £10

SIMON ARMITAGE. The Unaccompanied. Poems. Faber, London 2017. First edition - this copy signed by the author on the title page. Slim 8vo. 76pp. A fine copy in fine dust wrapper. Fifty-two poems. £25

JOHN ASHBURY. Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. Poems. The Viking Press, New York 1975. First edition. 8vo. 83pp. Quarter cloth with paper-covered sides. Just a shade of very light discolouration to the head of the upper and lower boards. A virtually fine copy in price-clipped dust wrapper with the correct 0575 (i.e. May 1975) printing code to the base of the flap.  The wrapper exhibits just a hint of creasing to the head of the spine panel and two lengthy vertical creases to the front flap, accompanied by a small partially removed sticker. Thirty-five poems, winner of the 1976 Pulitzer Prize. £150

W.H.AUDEN. For the Time Being. Faber, London 1945. First UK edition. Slim 8vo. 124pp. A tiny indentation to the head of the upper and lower boards and just a trace of minor wear to the base of the spine and to one or two other extremities. Printed on very slightly substandard wartime economy paperstock. A very good copy in chipped, torn and internally repaired dust wrapper. A preface in verse precedes two lengthy poems with some prose passages (The Sea and the Mirror – A Commentary on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and For the Time Being). 4,000 copies were printed. This UK edition was preceded by the US edition and mistakenly finds three lines omitted from the final page. Bloomfield & Mendelson A26b. £25

W.H.AUDEN. Epistle to a Godson and Other Poems. Faber, London 1972. First edition. Slim 8vo. 72pp. Paper-covered cloth. A touch of light soiling to the top edge, and a hint of light spotting to occasional text leaves. A very good copy in price-clipped dust wrapper, with several tiny fractions of loss from the spine panel ends. Former owner gift inscription inked to the head of the front free endpaper, and a tiny dealer plate to the base of the front pastedown. Thirty-three poems. £10

GEORGE BARKER. In Memory of David Archer. Faber, London 1973. First edition – this copy signed by the author on the front endpaper. Slim 8vo. 77pp. In fine state with very good dust wrapper, very lightly dust marked and with a little chafing to spine ends. Fifty-six poems, many of which are inspired by the memory of David Archer, whose Parton Street bookshop was a gathering point for young British modernists in the 1930’s including Barker, David Gascoyne and Dylan Thomas. £50

GEORGE BARKER. Dialogues etc. Faber, London 1976. The publisher’s proof sheets, five separate gatherings which together comprise the entire book, bar of course the wrappers. In fine state. Housed in an envelope bearing the following handwritten text: “George Barker. ‘Dialogues etc.’ To be published 1976. ‘Proof’ pages ‘hot off the press’ November 12^th 1975”. An uncommon find. £35

SEBASTIAN BARKER. Poems. The Cygnet Press, Reepham 1974. First edition of the author’s first book, limited to just 100 numbered and signed copies; this copy additional inscribed by Barker to fellow poet and long-term intimate of his father John Heath-Stubbs, and with his handsome bookplate to the front pastedown. Slim 8vo. 63pp. Printed on blue paperstock. The cloth lightly marked and stained in one or two places. A very good copy. No dust wrapper called for. Twenty-five poems, the first collection of verse from the son of poets George Barker and Elizabeth Smart, and a splendid association copy. £35

JOHN BETJEMAN contributes his poem The Song of a Cold World to the anthology Public School Verse. An Anthology 1924-1925 – Betjeman’s first appearance in book-form. Heinemann, London 1925. First edition. 40pp. Paper-covered boards with paper spine label. Boards lightly tanned, a little marked at rear and with a little tight wear to head and foot of spine. Spine label rubbed and partially illegible. With a light smattering of foxing throughout and a single tiny ink mark to title page. A good copy, no dust wrapper. A presentation copy from E.O.Pearson (who contributes four poems). There is a neat name and date of the recipient (E.G.Pearson Sept 9. 1925) to the front endpaper, along with an additional amusing poem by Pearson which has been pasted in ("I'm sending you a triolet because the book was not in store: To show you that I don't forget I'm sending you a triolet. It's on the way, but not here yet [They say it takes three days or more]. I'm sending you a triolet because the book was not in store"). £100

JOHN BETJEMAN. Mount Zion; or In Touch with the Infinite. Poems. The James Press, London [1931]. First edition of Betjeman’s scarce first book, published by his Oxford friend, poet Edward James (his first notable publication). Slim 8vo. 57pp. Black and red striped paper-covered boards with large illustrated paper title label to the upper board, this last lightly soiled. Printed on two different coloured paperstocks and illustrated with drawings including six by de Cronin Hastings which “express the beauty of suburbia far more than the verse” (from the author’s note) with decorative borders. The corner tips rubbed with a light crease to the rear board and a touch of light wear to the board edges in one or two places. Some light toning to the front free endpaper and pastedown, and some fox spotting to the rear endpaper and pastedown. The binding tender at one gathering (pp28-29). Lacking the backstrip (as, alas, is fairly common with this notoriously fragile production). Tiny dealer plate to the base of the rear pastedown. A good, bright copy of an uncommon book. Twenty-one poems, twelve appearing in print here for the fist time. Gammond 31B1a. £750

JOHN BETJEMAN. St. Mary-Le-Strand. A broadsheet poem. Privately printed from Betjeman’s Radnor Walk address [1981]. A single A4 sheet containing Betjeman’s twenty-line poem, with a small unaccredited drawing of the church and with the author’s facsimile signature at the base. The merest hint of edge creasing, else in fine state. An uncommon late J.B. broadsheet poem, produced in an unspecified limited edition to raise funds for the restoration of the church. All copies have this identical facsimile of the author’s late-life signature. £75

JOHN BETJEMAN. A Garland for the Laureate. Poems presented to Sir John Betjeman on his 75^th birthday. The Calendine Press, Stratford-upon-Avon 1981. First edition – one of seventy-five numbered copies, out of a total edition of 350 (there were a further seventy-five casebound copies signed by the contributors). Unpaginated. 4to. Buckram-backed marbled boards. Edges untrimmed. With a handsome title page decoration by Miriam Macgregor. A sliver of discolouration and a small area of quite discreet staining to base of upper board, else a fine copy of a very handsome production, but lacking the slipcase. Former owner name inked to a blank preliminary. Twenty-two poems, all bar two previously unprinted, including contributions from Kingsley Amis, Leonard Clark, Charles Causley, Roy Fuller, Ted Hughes, Philip Larkin, Norman Nicholson, Alan Ross, Sacheverell Sitwell, Stephen Spender, R.S.Thomas, Anthony Thwaite, John Wain, Laurence Whistler and others. £200

“The project was kept a secret from J.B. and the book was presented to him by Roger Pringle as a surprise one morning, with many of the poets involved also present, having arrived at his Radnor Walk house in a fleet of taxis, accompanied by bottles of champagne and smoked salmon sandwiches” – from a letter from the publisher to Candida Lycett Green. 

THOMAS BLACKBURN. The Fourth Man. Poems. MacGibbon & Kee, London 1971. First edition – this copy fondly inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper. Slim 8vo. 55pp. Top edge lightly spotted and with just a trace of light partial browning to the free endpapers. A very good copy in chafed and a little nicked and tanned dust wrapper. Twenty-three poems. Laid-in is a sheet of paper, folded once, containing an original typewritten poem by Blackburn, with one error corrected, written for inclusion in the catalogue for the 1962 Arthur Boyd retrospective exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery. £20

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD. Poems. With thirteen illustrations by T.S.Cooper, J.C.Horsley &c., engraved by Thurston Thompson. Van Voorst, London 1845. The first edition of this selection. Newly and attractively rebound in cloth-backed marbled boards, with printed spine-label (and a spare at rear). Very good. £40

WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT (under the pseudonym ‘Proteus’). Sonnets and Songs. John Murray, London 1875. First edition (never reprinted). Small 8vo. 112pp. Yellow pebbled cloth, a little marked, handled and soiled, lettered and ruled in gold at upper board and with a small gilt vignette of the sun. Blind rule to rear board. Some spotting to endpapers and, lightly, to occasional text leaves. Binding just a little tender in places. A nice bright copy. With the bookplates of noted bibliophile and bibliographic scholar Simon Novel-Smith and his Judith Adams. Fifty-one poems. Extremely uncommon. £200

EDWARD BRATHWAITE. Islands. Poems. Oxford University Press, London 1969. First edition – this copy signed by the author on the title page, and additionally inscribed to an un-named recipient, and dated to year of publication. Slim 8vo. 113pp. A touch of light chafing to the lower corners. A virtually fine copy in dust wrapper, marred by some edge wear and chafing, and with a touch of light uneven discolouration to the rear panel. Former owner name inked to the head of the front free endpaper. Brathwaite’s third collection of verse, and the final part of his celebrated trilogy The Arrivants: A New World Trilogy, preceded by Rights of Passage (1967) and Masks (1968). Uncommon, and especially so with the author’s signature. £65

WILLIAM BRONK. Careless Love and Its Apostrophes. Poems. Red Ozier Press, New York 1985. First edition, limited to 175 numbered copies, this being one of just forty casebound copies (#22), signed by the author in pencil at the foot of the colophon. 8vo. Unpaginated. Printed on Johannot mouldmade paper with hand-lettering by Anita Karl and bound into decorated paper-covered cloth designed by Claire Maziarczyk and with a paper spine label. A fine copy of a most handsome production, housed in the original unprinted acetate protector. Thirty-one poems. Uncommon. £150

WILLIAM BRONK. Living Instead. Poems. North Point Press, San Francisco 1991. First edition – this copy signed by the author on the title page and with an additional presentation inscription to Christopher Whelen. Slim 8vo. 98pp. A fine copy in very good dust wrapper, lightly chafed at the head of the spine panel. Laid-in is a copy of the University at Buffalo Christmas Broadside for December 1984 (second series, no. 6), featuring a poem by Bronk accompanied by a Eugene Canadé illustration. £50

NORMAN CAMERON. The Collected Poems of Norman Cameron 1905-1953. With a lengthy introduction by Robert Graves. Hogarth Press 1957. First edition. Paper-covered boards, a little bumped in places and endpapers lightly and partially browned. A bright copy in fractionally faded dust wrapper with a single miniscule nick. Fifty-seven poems. £25

CHARLES CAUSLEY. Johnny Alleluia. Poems. Hart-Davis, London 1961. First edition. Slim 8vo. 61pp. Pictorial paper-covered boards. In fine state with very good double-spread pictorial dust wrapper, lightly marked at rear panel. Thirty-two poems, Causley's fourth collection of verse. £10

AUSTIN CLARKE. The Sword of the West. Poems. Mansel & Roberts 1921. The first edition of his third book. Cloth-backed boards, a little stained, faded and rubbed. Spine-label chipped. Fly- leaves quite browned. Clipping pasted to half-title. £75

WENDY COPE. Serious Concerns. Poems. Faber, London 1992. First edition – the uncommon casebound issue. This copy signed by the author on the title page and with a second signature on a slip of paper tipped-in. Slim 8vo. 87pp. Leaf margins lightly tanned, else a fine copy in fine dust wrapper. Fifty-eight poems, the author’s second full-length collection of adult verse. £95

A.E.COPPARD. The Collected Poems of A.E.Coppard. Jonathan Cape, London 1928. First edition. 8vo. 109pp. Endpapers lightly spotted and darkened at margins. A very good copy in dust wrapper, very lightly rubbed at spine ends. Sixty-five poems, collected from the author’s two previous collections Hips and Haws (1922) and Pelagae (1926), and including a number hitherto unprinted. £25

“Possibly this is the smallest volume of Collected Poems ever issued … if all Collected Poems could be got into as slim a compass it would not take the reader very long to know the worst about them” – from the author’s preface. 

HERBERT CORBY. Hampdens Going Over. Editions Poetry London 1945. First edition - this copy inscribed by the author: "To Olive, with best wishes. May 1946". 77pp. Patterned boards, slightly chafed at extremities. A very nice copy in chipped and repaired dust wrapper. Corby's first book. £45

HERBERT CORBY. Time in a Blue Prison. Fortune Press, London [1947]. First edition – a presentation copy from the author: "To my good friend and fellow poet, Arnold Vincent Bowen, with best wishes Herbert Corby, June 1947". Slim 8vo. 64pp. Boards a little rubbed at some extremities.  A hint of sporadic spotting, else a very bright copy in quite striking price-clipped dust wrapper, a little marked and tanned. Seventy-three World War Two poems. £50

MORRIS COX. The Whirligig and Other Poems. With a handsome unaccredited dust wrapper design by the author. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1954. First edition of the author’s first book – the only one to be issued by a regular trade publisher. 8vo. 88pp. A small unobtrusive Times library inkstamp to the rear pastedown, and a former owner bookplate to the front pastedown, alongside the faint ghost of a former dealer’s pencilled pricing. A nice, crisp copy in the handsome pictorial dust wrapper, chipped with some notable loss to the spine ends and a fraction more to tips of corners. Fifty-seven poems from the founder of the Gogmagog Press. £95

KEVIN CROSSLEY-HOLLAND. East Anglian Poems. With illustrations by James Dodds. Jardine Press, Suffolk 1988. First edition - limited to just 100 numbered copies on handmade paper, signed by both poet and artist, this being the very first number. Slim 4to. Full leather. With title-page and colophon decorations and twelve superb woodcuts, one colour-tinted, plus another on the rear endpapers. A hint of occasional chafing to leather else in fine state with original rexine slipcase. Small former owner name label to front pastedown. Sixteen poems, the fifth book published by Dodds' Jardine Press. Really quite scarce. £125

KEVIN CROSSLEY-HOLLAND. The Language of Yes. Poems. Enitharmon Press, London 1996. First edition, the deluxe casebound issue, limited to just thirty numbered copies (this being #4), signed by the author and including a hand-written poem. Slim 8vo.  72pp. White cloth lettered in black at spine and with a decorated paper plate inset to the upper board. Four or five very light instances of spotting to the cloth and just a speckling of spotting to the top edge. A virtually fine copy. No dust wrapper called for. Forty-one poems. £75

E.E.CUMMINGS. Etcetera. The Unpublished Poems of E.E.Cummings. Edited by George James Firmage and Richard S.Kennedy. Liveright, New York 1983. First edition – the uncommon casebound issue. Tall 8vo. xiii, 188pp. Just a touch of light bruising to the base of the spine, and a little marking to the bottom edge. Very good indeed in dust wrapper, a little chafed at the spine ends and corner tips and with a little light miscellaneous staining to the base of the rear panel. One hundred and forty-three hitherto unpublished Cummings poems, plus a further twenty-three juvenile efforts and Horace translations. £50

C.DAY-LEWIS (writing as Cecil Day-Lewis) contributes his poems Dream Maker, Sanctuary, Once in Arcady and A Forest Piece to the anthology Ten Singers. Fortune & Merriman, London 1925. First edition. Demy 8vo. 24pp. Hand-set, printed on handmade paper and bound into card wrappers. Wrappers a little dusty, nicked and chipped at yapped edges and with several small areas of staining, but a lovely crisp copy internally. A small label noting the printing and pricing details (perhaps once part of a wraparound band) has been pasted to the inner wrapper, resulting in a small rectangle of offsetting to the adjacent free endpaper. Embossed ‘Presentation Copy’ stamp. A very good copy, some leaves uncut. Although dated 1925 this anthology was in fact issued in October 1924 thereby constituting Day Lewis’ first bookform appearance. Handley-Taylor & D’Arch Smith B1. £40

C.DAY-LEWIS. Beechen Vigil and Other Poems. The Fortune Press, London  [1925]. First Edition of the author’s first book. 8vo. 31pp. Card wrappers with paper title label. Wrappers a little chipped and tanned, with yapped edges nicked. A light scattering of spotting to endpapers. Internally in extremely crisp state. Twenty-four poems printed on handmade paper, Day-Lewis’ first published collection (although he had contributed earlier in the year to Ten Singers, also published by The Fortune Press, under its first name of Fortune & Merriman). £150

C.DAY-LEWIS. The Graveyard by the Sea. Translated by Day-Lewis from the French of Paul Valéry’s Le Cimetière Marin. Secker & Warburg, London 1947. First edition of this translation, limited to 500 numbered and signed copies (this being #72). Demy 8vo. 26pp bound in grey-blue handsome marbled paper wrappers with a paper title label to the upper wrapper. A very good copy. French and English texts en face. Handley-Taylor & d’Arch Smith, B15. £125

C.DAY-LEWIS. Selected Poems. Harper & Row, New York 1967. First American edition (there was no equivalent UK edition). This copy inscribed by the author: “J.R. / With all good wishes / Cecil”. The recipient of the inscription was Bishop John Robinson, author and scholar, noted amongst other things for his testimony at the Lady Chatterley’s Lover censorship trail (a book which “every Christian should read”). 8vo. 160pp. Decorated paper-covered boards. Top-edge, endpapers and half-title light spotted. A lovely crisp copy in dust wrapper, lightly rubbed at head of spine panel and with a single short closed tear. A foreword by the author (“Casting back over my verse of the last forty years is an uncomfortable experience”) precedes sixty-one poems. A ticket for Day-Lewis’ 1972 St-Martin-in-the-Fields Memorial Service laid-in. £50

WALTER DE LA MARE. The Veil and other poems. Holt, New York 1922. First American edition. 8vo. 84pp. Attractive ornate gilt-pictorial cloth. A very bright copy. Handsome former owner bookplate to front pastedown. Fifty-three poems. £20

EMILY DICKINSON. Poems. Edited by Two of Her Friends Mabel Loomis Todd and T.W.Higginson. James R.Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., London 1891. The first UK edition of the author’s first collection of verse, in the first state binding with ‘Osgood, McIlvaine & Co’ gold-stamped to the base of the spine (a later issue, bound after June 1897 finds this imprint replaced with ‘Harper and Brothers’). 8vo. xiv + 158pp. Yellow cloth lettered in gold at the spine and upper board (the spine lettering very slightly defective). Top edge gilt. A minor slant to the binding, and a sliver of discolouration to the cloth at the head of the backstrip. Spine ends lightly rubbed. With just a touch of spotting and blemishing to the endpapers, and a pin-prick or two of further light spotting to occasional leaf margins. A light but lengthy vertical crease to the front free endpaper. Contemporary (1898) former owner gift inscription neatly inked to the head of the half-title. A very good copy of the scarce first English edition of Dickinson's first collection of posthumously-published poems. Myerson A1.2. £850

KEITH DOUGLAS. The Complete Poems of Keith Douglas. Edited by Desmond Graham. Oxford University Press 1978. The first edition of this definitive collection of Douglas' verse, drawing on newly available manuscript material. 8vo. 145pp. A tiny hint of spotting to edges and browning to endpapers. Very good indeed in very slightly marked dust wrapper. Over one hundred poems – all that are known to survive (bar a few juvenile pieces) and including three hitherto unpublished or collected. £50

CAROL ANN DUFFY. Standing Female Nude. Poems. Anvil Press Poetry, London 1985. First edition of the author’s first regularly published collection. This copy signed by the author on the title page and dated 1999. Slim 8vo. 62pp. Card wrappers (never issued in casebound format). In fine state. Forty-nine poems. £125

CAROL ANN DUFFY. Selling Manhattan. Poems. Anvil Press Poetry, London 1987. First edition of the author’s second regularly published collection. This copy signed by the author on the title page. Slim 8vo. 61pp. Card wrappers (never issued in casebound format). A short crease to the tip of the contents leaf, else in fine state. Forty-four poems. £75

CAROL ANN DUFFY. Mean Time. Poems. Anvil Press Poetry, London 1993. First edition – this copy inscribed by the author on the half-title and dated the year of publication. Slim 8vo. 52pp + [ii] publisher’s advertisements. Card wrappers (never issued in casebound format). The wrappers very lightly soiled and with a little light creasing to one corner. A very good copy. Thirty-nine poems, the author’s fourth full-length collection. £40

DOUGLAS DUNN. The Happier Life. Poems. Faber, London 1972. First edition of the author’s second collection. 8vo. A tiny trace of spotting to top edge, else in fine state with dust wrapper, fractionally tanned at spine panel. Thirty-nine poems. £15

LAWRENCE DURRELL. Cities Plains and People. Poems. Faber, London 1946. First edition. Slim 8vo. 72pp. Covers triflingly spotted here and there. A very bright copy in slightly nicked, rubbed and faded dust wrapper. Neat name of former owner inked to front endpaper. Twenty-seven poems, Durrell's fifth collection. £30

LAWRENCE DURRELL. On Seeming to Presume. Poems. Faber, London 1948. First edition of the author’s third collection of verse. Slim 8vo. 59pp. Two or three tiny instances of spotting to top edge and to several preliminary, else a fine copy in very slightly rubbed and darkened dust wrapper. Twenty-three poems, one dedicated to Henry Miller and George Katsimbalis, and another to Paddy [Fermor] and Xan [Fielding]. £20

JAMES FENTON. The Memory of War. Poems 1968-1982. The Salamander Press, Edinburgh 1982. First edition, first state – one of 600 misprinted copies with twelve lines missing from the poem Dead Soldiers, and with a specially printed corrected version laid-in. Tall 8vo. 93pp + [i] notes. In fine state with fine dust wrapper. The author’s second collection of verse: the first edition was limited to 3,000 copies, but the first 600, issued between June and September 1982, contained this not insignificant printing error, compelling the publisher to produce a quite elegant four-page correction leaflet to insert with each of these copies. Uncommon. £55

ROY FISHER. Collected Poems 1968. Fulcrum Press, London 1969. First edition – a presentation copy inscribed by the author to fellow poet Jeremy Hooker: “To Jeremy, signed with an older hand than wrote it. Roy 8.ii.89”. Slim 8vo. 79pp. Cloth very lightly dust marked and top edge spotted. A very good copy in dust wrapper, a little chafed, nicked and dust marked. Thirty-nine poems (Jeremy Hooker’s neat pencilled notes can be found at the margins of nine of them). £30

G.S.FRASER. The Traveller Has Regrets and Other Poems. The Harvill Press Ltd., and Editions Poetry London 1948. First edition. A presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper: “To Biddy Crozier with respect and affection from George Fraser, December, 1948”. Slim 8vo. 96pp. A hint of toning to the endpapers. In virtually fine state with tanned and dust soiled dust wrapper with a short open tear to the head of the spine panel and a tiny area of loss. Forty-seven poems. £50

Margaret ‘Biddy’ Crozier was an actress and the wife of the producer and dramatist Eric Crozier. She was friendly with W.S.Graham, David Gascoyne and Tambimuttu amongst others, often very generous during hard times and regularly put them up in her book-crammed Hampstead home (Tambi apparently required some “fending off” measures on these occasions).

ROBERT FROST. Selected Poems. William Heinemann, London 1923. First UK edition of this selection. 8vo. 132pp. Navy blue cloth with paper spine label. Top edge lightly dust soiled and with some browning to the endpapers. A very good copy, housed in the uncommon dust wrapper, exhibiting an inch of loss from the head of the spine panel and a further sliver from the head of the rear panel, and with some tanning, most especially to the spine panel. Forty-three poems, dedicated to Helen Thomas in memory of Edward Thomas. £150

ROBERT FROST. Selected Poems. William Heinemann, London 1923. First UK edition of this selection. Blue cloth with tanned and a little chipped paper spine label. Cloth a little marked and chafed at extremities, with some browning to the endpapers and a very light scattering of spotting to half-title and title page. A nice, bright copy without the scarce dust wrapper. Forty-three poems, dedicated to Helen Thomas in memory of Edward Thomas. £40

ROBERT FROST. Selected Poems. With twenty-five pages of introductory essays by W.H.Auden, C.Day Lewis, Paul Engle and Edwin Muir. Jonathan Cape, London 1936. First edition of this uncommon selection of sixty-two poems selected by the author. 8vo. 221pp. A trace of light wear and discolouration to cloth at spine ends and a little spotting to fore edge and, very occasionally, to text leaves. A very good copy in dust wrapper, tanned at spine panel with a little light spotting and some notable loss to spine ends. A small portrait of Frost, clipped from a newspaper, has been pasted to the front endpaper, where it remains partially obscured by the wrapper flap. £95

ROY FULLER. Poems. The Fortune Press, London [1940]. First edition – this copy inscribed by the author at the head of the front free endpaper and dated the year of publication. 8vo. 39pp. Boards lightly marked in places where adhesive from the dust wrapper protector has become adhered. A light scattering of fox spotting to endpapers and half-title. Several leaves uncut. A very good copy in dust wrapper, a little tanned at spine panel with several tiny slivers of loss to spine ends and corner tips. Twenty-nine poems, the author’s first book. £125

ROBERT GARIOCH. Chuckies on the Cairn. Poems in Scots and English. The Chalmer Press, Hayes 1949. First edition of the author’s second book, preceded only by Seventeen Poems for Sixpence (1940) which he penned jointly with Sorley MacLean. 8vo. 15pp. Stapled card wrappers, lightly creased, soiled and discoloured, with some light wear to the yapped edges. Occasional light soiling to leaf margins. Quite a nice, crisp copy of an uncommon item. Eight poems. £35

W.S.GRAHAM. The White Threshold. Poems. Faber, London 1949. First edition of the author’s uncommon fourth collection of verse. Slim 8vo. 70pp. Top edge very lightly dust marked and with a small area of spotting to the front pastedown and endpaper. Very good indeed in dust wrapper, a little darkened to several edges and with a touch of spotting to the rear panel and a centimetre or so of loss to the head of the spine panel and one or two other tiny fractions of loss to extremities. Publisher’s compliments slip laid-in stating “With Compliments of the author” (the first two words printed, the final three typed). Thirty-one poems. 1,200 copies were printed. £200

W.S.GRAHAM. Malcolm Mooney's Land. Poems. Faber, London 1970. First edition. Slim 8vo. 64pp. A strip of light partial browning to the free endpapers and a small area of surface abrasion to the final text leaf. A very good copy in very good dust wrapper, the spine panel just fractionally faded and with a touch of light dust soiling and a small area of staining to the rear panel. Nineteen poems, the author's sixth collection of verse (and his first publication following the fifteen year silence which followed his collection The Nightfishing). £40

ROBERT GRAVES. Country Sentiment. Poems. Martin Secker, London 1920. First Edition. ‘Cobble-stone’ decorated paper-covered boards with paper spine label. A strip of light partial browned in endpapers and some spotting throughout. Tiny dealer plate to front pastedown. A nice bright copy in the uncommon dust wrapper,  slightly dust marked and tanned and chipped at spine panel. Graves’ fifth book, forty-six poems, dedicated to his wife Nancy Nicholson. 1,000 copies were printed. £125

PHILIP GROSS. The Ice Factory. Poems. Faber, London 1984. First edition – this copy signed by the author on the title page. 8vo. 62pp. Card wrappers (never issued in casebound format). In fine state. Forty poems, the author’s first collection of verse (Gross’ 2009 collection The Water Table would go on to win the T.S.Eliot prize). £25

THOM GUNN. [Poems]. The Fantasy Poets Number Sixteen. Oxford University Poetry Society 1953. First edition of the author’s first book, consisting of the following poems: Incident on a Journey, Wind in the Street, The Wound, The Beach Head, The Right Possessor and A Village Edmund. Stapled wrappers, a little marked with a small tear to the base of the natural fold. Staples rusted. Quite a nice, bright copy. Edited by Donald Hall and Oscar Mellor, this is the sixteenth issue of this influential series "designed to feature the work of young poets in England today". In total thirty-five issues were eventually published between 1952-1962. £95

THOM GUNN. Fighting Terms. Poems. Fantasy Press, Oxford 1954. First edition, second issue (incorporating a single minor textual correction to the poem Tamer and Hawk – a ‘t’ added to the end of ‘thought’ in the first line). Slim 8vo. 44pp. Yellow cloth lettered and ruled in red at the upper board. Cloth a little marked and handled. Endpapers really quite browned, yet otherwise extremely fresh internally. Twenty-five poems, the author's first substantial book (and the first hardcover publication issued by the Fantasy Press). The first and second states comprised only 305 copies in total and can be differentiated only by the textual correction (the publisher Oscar Mellor believed the two states could be identified by the slightly different shade of yellow cloth they were bound in, but Gunn's bibliographer Jack Hagstrom has suggested that this is probably not the case). No dust wrapper, as issued. £175

THOM GUNN. The Sense of Movement. Poems. Faber, London 1957. First edition. Slim 8vo. 62pp. Some spotting and browning to endpapers. A very crisp copy of the author’s second collection of verse, of which 1,000 copies were printed. Housed in tanned and spotted dust wrapper with several small areas of loss from spine ends and tips of several corners. Thirty-two poems. £50

H.D. [i.e. Hilda Doolittle]. Hymen. Poems. The Egoist Press, London 1921. First edition of the author’s scarce second collection of verse. Printed at the Pelican Press. Slim 8vo. 46pp. Decorated paper-covered stiff card wrappers with paper title label, lettered and ornately bordered in blue. Chipped at head and base of spine with a large portion of the backstrip absent, but the binding itself still perfectly sound. The paper covering is a little chipped at several extremities with several repaired tears. Neat former owner name inked to first leaf alongside the ghost of a partially erased pencilled note. Twenty-three poems, dedicated to her lover Bryher and her daughter Perdita. £75

MICHAEL HAMBURGER. Collected Poems 1941-1994. Anvil Press Poetry, London 1995. First edition. 8vo. 475pp. A fine copy in dust wrapper. Over three-hundred and twenty poems, including over seventy which do not appear in the author’s Collected Poems 1941-1983. £20

TONY HARRISON. The Loiners. Poems. London Magazine Editions, London 1970. First edition of the author’s first regularly published book (preceded only by the pamphlets Earthworks and Newcastle is Peru, the latter reproduced here). This copy signed by the author on the title page and dated three years after publication, and additionally inscribed (to fellow poet Jeremy Hooker and his wife). 8vo. 96pp. A virtually fine copy in dust wrapper, lightly rubbed at several extremities. Twenty-two poems. £125

DAVID HARSENT. Marriage. Poems. Faber, London 2002. First edition – this copy signed by the author on the title page, and additionally inscribed with a brief handwritten card laid-in. Slim 8vo. 69pp. Card wrappers (never issued in casebound format). In virtually fine state. Two lengthy sequences of poems. £20

SEAMUS HEANEY. Wintering Out. Poems. Faber, London 1972. First edition – this paperback issue preceding the casebound edition by a year. This copy signed by the author on the title page. 8vo. 80pp. Card wrappers with French flaps. The wrappers spotted, rubbed and a little soiled, marked and chafed at the natural folds. Some spotting to the edges and to the first three or four leaves. About a good copy of an uncommon volume; Heaney’s third major collection of verse and desirable with the author’s signature. A three-verse dedication to David Hammond and Michael Longley precedes forty-five poems. Brandes & Durkan A8 (who note that 2,500 copies were printed). £300

SEAMUS HEANEY. Sweeney Astray. A version from the Irish. Field Day Theatre Company, Derry 1983. First edition – the casebound issue. This copy signed by the author on the title page. 8vo. 77pp. Illustrated with several decorations by Colin Middleton. Some fairly light spotting to top edge and several preliminary and concluding leaves. A very good copy in virtually fine dust wrapper. Heaney’s version of Buile Suibhne, the classic of medieval Irish literature. 1,000 copies were printed (plus a further 3,000 in wrappers). Brandes & Durkan A34a. £350 

SEAMUS HEANEY. Sweeney Astray. A Version from the Irish. Farrar Straus Giroux, New York 1984. The signed limited edition of Heaney’s version of Buile Suibhne.. Number 51 of 350 copies, signed by the author and with eight monotype illustrations by Barrie Cooke which did not appear in any other edition. A very good copy. No dust wrapper called for, but lacking the slipcase. Brandes & Durkan A34f. £300

SEAMUS HEANEY. The Spirit Level. Poems. Faber, London 1996. First edition. Slim 8vo. 70pp. A light scattering of spotting to endpapers and several preliminary leaves. Very good indeed in fine dust wrapper. Thirty-five poems, the author’s ninth major collection of verse. £35

GEOFFREY HILL. King Log. Poems. Andre Deutsch, London 1968. First edition of the author’s second book. 8vo. 70pp. Top edge lightly dust marked and with just a trace of tanning to paperstock and a strip of light browning to title page. Very good in lightly chafed dust wrapper, with some quite light tanning and staining to spine panel. Eighteen poems including a revised version of In Memory of Jane Fraser (“I dislike the poem very much and the publication of this amended version may be regarded as a necessary penitential exercise” - note) plus a short essay. £70

GEOFFREY HILL. Mercian Hymns. Andre Deutsch, London 1971. First edition, the scarce casebound issue. Crown 8vo. Unpaginated (thirty-eight pages of printed text). Boards bowed as is invariably the case, with some spotting to the top edge, a strip of light partial browning to the free endpapers and a little light occasional marginal spotting. Very good in dust wrapper, fine but for a little discolouration to the flaps. An epigraph by C.H.Sisson precedes thirty hymns and four pages of notes and acknowledgements. £200

GEOFFREY HILL. Tenebrae. Poems. Andre Deutsch, London 1978. First edition. Slim 8vo. 48pp. A tiny scattering of spotting to the top edge, else a fine copy in very good dust wrapper, marred only by a little discolouration to the margins of the rear panel.  Ten poems, the author’s fifth major collection. £20

RALPH HODGSON. The Last Blackbird and Other Lines. George Allen, London 1907. First edition, first issue. Slim 8vo. 95pp. Russet cloth lettered in gold at spine and upper board. Top edge gilt (as required for this first issue), others rough-trimmed. A little light wear to spine ends and corner tips, and just a touch of browning to endpapers. Very good. Contemporary former owner gift inscription inked to the head of the front free endpaper. Twenty-six poems, the author’s uncommon first collection of verse. £50

RALPH HODGSON. The Skylark and other poems. Macmillan, London 1959. The first trade edition, following a limited edition of 350 copies printed at the Curwen Press and published a year earlier. 8vo. 85pp. Contemporary former owner name and date inked to the front free endpaper, else a fine copy in very good dust wrapper, lightly rubbed at the head of the spine panel. Thirty-two poems: the author’s complete verse output since the publication of his collection Poems 1917, plus an index of first lines. £10

RALPH HODGSON. Collected Poems. Macmillan, London 1961. First edition. 8vo. 185pp. Portrait frontispiece. Top edge dust marked and with a tiny sliver of spotting to the free endpapers. A very good copy in dust soiled, chafed and a little rubbed price-clipped dust wrapper. Eight-five poems reproduced from his collections The Last Blackbird and Other Lines (1907), Poems (1917) and The Skylark and Other Poems (1958), plus an index of first lines. £15

MICHAEL HOFMANN. Acrimony. Poems. Faber, London 1986. First edition – this copy signed by the author on the title page. 8vo. 79pp. Some tanning to lesser-quality paperstock, else a fine copy in fine dust wrapper. Forty-four poems, the author’s second collection of verse, for which he was awarded the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. £35

TED HUGHES. The Earth-Owl and Other Moon-People. Poems. With eleven full-page line cut illustrations by R.A.Brandt. Faber, London 1963. First edition. 8vo. 46pp. Top edge lightly spotted and with former owner details neatly inked to the front free endpaper. Very good indeed in dust wrapper, lightly tanned and rubbed with two or three tiny fractions of loss.  Twenty-three poems. 3,000 copies were printed. Sagar & Tabor A7. £55

TED HUGHES. The Martyrdom of Bishop Farrar. Richard Gilbertson, ‘The Manuscript Series, Crediton 1970. The second separate edition, corrected. Limited to 100 numbered copies, signed and dated by the author (this being #42). Royal 8vo. [8pp] stapled into card wrappers featuring a reproduction of a sixteenth-century woodcut taken from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, repeated on the first leaf. The wrappers lightly tanned and with a touch of light edge-creasing, and some surface abrasion to the verso of the first leaf where is appears a bookplate has been carefully removed. These are either new staples, or they were at some point repositioned. A nice, crisp copy of this uncommon item, somewhat more so that the uncorrected first issue (the poem was included in Hughes’ debut collection The Hawk in the Rain. The original printing of this first separate edition contained an error, two transposed lines, and so was succeeded by this corrected version, produced in a slightly different binding). Sagar & Tabor A21.a2. £225

TED HUGHES. Crow. From the Life and Songs of the Crow. Poems. Faber, London 1970. First edition of probably the author’s most important collection (his self-professed masterpiece), written between 1966-69 after a barren period following the death of Sylvia Plath. Slim 8vo. 80pp. The upper board lifting a fraction, and with just a trace of marking to the cloth extremities and spotting to the top- and fore edge. A narrow strip of browning and spotting to the free endpapers. Contemporary former owner name and date inked to the head of the front free endpaper. A nice crisp copy – very bright internally – and housed in the Leonard Baskin-illustrated dust wrapper, lightly spotted, tanned, soiled and rubbed with several tiny closed edge-tears. 4,000 copies were printed. Sagar & Tabor A25. £75

TED HUGHES. Flowers and Insects. Some Birds and a Pair of Spiders. Poems, with drawings by Leonard Baskin. Faber, London 1986. First edition. Slim 8vo. 61pp. Issued without endpapers. Two or three tiny pinpricks of spotting to the top edge, else a fine copy in fine dust wrapper. Seventeen poems, accompanied by nineteen colour Baskin drawings, including several full-page or double-spread presentations. £10

ALDOUS HUXLEY. The Defeat of Youth and Other Poems. Blackwell ‘Initiates Series’, Oxford 1918. First edition. Patterned card wrappers, a little rubbed at some extremities. Title-hinge tender. An attractive copy. £75

THOMAS KINSELLA. Her Vertical Smile. Poems. Peppercanister, Dublin 1985. First edition, limited to 350 copies (out of a total edition of 425), this one signed by the author on the title page. 25pp. Card wrappers with French flaps. A virtually fine copy. A two-part verse sequence, issued as Peppercanister #10 (published simultaneously with Kinsella’s Songs of the Psyche which appeared as Peppercanister #9). £50

PHILIP LARKIN. The North Ship. Poems. The Fortune Press, London 1945. First edition of the author’s first book, this being in un-noted binding variant in grey cloth, lettered in gold at spine. Printed on Glastonbury watermarked paper by S.C.Jennings & Sons Ltd. Slim 8vo. 36pp. A touch of wear to two or three extremities. Some production fault creasing to two text leaves. A very good copy. No dust wrapper. Bloomfield (2002) notes: “White laid paper watermarked: ‘I Batchelor & Sons Ltd | HAND MADE’. Copies are also found with paper watermarked: ‘[crown] | Glastonbury’ and with mixtures of both. This is due to the owner of The Fortune Press habitually buying end runs of paper stock for his printers”.  Printed in an edition likely not exceeding 500 copies. Thirty-one poems. Bloomfield (2002) A1. £500

PHILIP LARKIN. The Less Deceived. Poems. The Marvell Press, East Yorkshire [1956]. The second edition (and first paperback issue) of Larkins’s third collection of verse, reset and corrected. 43pp. Sewn card wrappers, a little rubbed and chaffed at yapped edges. A nice bright copy in dust wrapper, faded at spine panel and a little rubbed and nicked at spine ends. Twenty-nine poems. 1,320 copies were printed. Bloomfield A6. £75

PHILIP LARKIN.  High Windows.  Poems. Faber, London 1974.  First edition. Slim 8vo. 42pp. Just a touch of speckling to the top edge. Very good indeed in very good dust wrapper, marred by a little internal spotting and some creasing to the natural folds. Former owner details neatly inked to the front pastedown, partially obscured by the wrapper flap. Twenty-four poems, the author’s final collection of verse, issued just before his death. £75

PHILIP LARKIN. Early Poems and Juvenilia. Edited and introduced by A.T.Tolley. Faber, London 2005. First edition. 8vo. 382pp. A tine crease to the lower tip of a single text leaf, else a fine copy in dust wrapper, marred only by a single miniscule closed tear to the upper edge. Over 250 poems, some of which appeared in Collected Poems (1988) and the Larkin Society publication About Larkin, but most of which are hitherto unprinted. £25

JOHN LEHMANN. The Reader at Night and Other Poems. Basilike, Toronto 1974. First edition, limited to 250 signed and numbered copies designed, handset and printed at the Dreadnaught Press. Small 4to. Unpaginated. Marbled paper-covered cloth with a paper spine label (and a spare tipped-in). Ghost of former owner pencil markings to front endpaper. An extremely clean and bright copy. Twelve poems. £35

ALUN LEWIS. In the Green Tree. Hitherto uncollected stories and a selection from his letters. With drawings by John Petts (including a splendid portrait frontispiece), a preface by A.L.Rowse, a postscript by Gwyn Jones and a sonnet by Vernon Watkins. Allen & Unwin, London 1948. First edition. 8vo. 141pp. Endpapers lightly spotted, else a virtually fine copy in slightly dusty publisher price-clipped dust wrapper. £15

VACHEL LINDSAY. The Congo and Other Poems. With an introduction by Harriet Monroe. Macmillan, New York 1914. First edition. A presentation copy, boldly inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, the inscription dated 1928 and accompanied by ink drawings of a plant and a butterfly. The recipient of Lindsay’s inscription, Ben C.Clough, has inked his details alongside the inscription and also neatly reproduced a lengthy review quote to the front pastedown. 8vo. xv + 159pp + [v] publisher’s advertisements at the rear. Two-colour decorated mustard coloured cloth. Publisher’s perforated compliments stamp to the title page. Spine ends and corner tips a little rubbed, and with some fading to the tiny decorative backstrip vignette. A small area of staining to four text leaves. A very good copy of the author’s second collection of verse. Monroe’s five-page introduction precedes seventy-nine poems split into five section, the first section containing ten poems “intended to be read aloud” (as one would expect from the “founder of modern singing poetry”) the final section titled War – 1914 and containing seven poems. Harriet Monroe had published Lindsay’s poems General William Booth Enters into Heaven and The Congo in her celebrated verse periodical Poetry in 1913 and 1914 respectively. £250

MICHAEL LONGLEY. Lares. Poems. With illustrations by Brian Freeman. Poet and Printer, Woodford Green, Essex 1972.  First edition of his fourth collection of verse – this copy signed by the author on the title page. Small 8vo. 23pp. Sewn card wrappers (never issued in casebound format). The wrappers just a little tanned and dust marked, with a short jagged tear to the fore edge of the rear wrapper. A very good copy. Twelve poems, accompanied by four Freeman illustrations (one of which is reproduced on the front wrapper), stamped in black, blue, brown and yellow. £65

MICHAEL LONGLEY. The Echo Gate. Poems 1975-1979. Secker & Warburg, London 1979. First edition – this copy signed by the author on the title page and dated May 1999. Slim 8vo. 53pp. Top edge very lightly dust soiled, else a fine copy in virtually fine dust wrapper, the upper edge lifting a fraction of the rear panel. Former owner name inked to the head of the front pastedown (and obscured by the wrapper flap). A printed dedication in verse to Michael Allen and Paul Muldoon precedes thirty-five poems. £55

MICHAEL LONGLEY. Cenotaph of Snow. Sixty Poems About War. Enitharmon Press, London 2003. First edition, limited to 150 numbered copies, signed by the author (this being #43 and with an additional fond inscription from the author on the title page, dated the year of publication). Slim 4to. 50pp. Plain card wrappers. In fine state with the handsome marbled dust wrapper, lightly rubbed at the yapped upper edge. Tipped-in is a one-page flier for a special reception at the Imperial War Museum on the occasion of Longley’s receipt of the 2003 Wilfred Owen Award for Poetry. £225

ROBERT LOWELL. Poems 1938-1949. Faber, London 1950. First edition. 8vo. 102pp. Top edge lightly spotted and dust soiled and with a strip of light narrow browning to one blank preliminary and one blank concluding leaf. Very good indeed in very good dust wrapper, lightly tanned at the spine panel, a little chafed and rubbed at several extremities and with a former owner name neatly inked to the head of the front panel. Forty-eight poems, the author’s second regularly published book, and his first to be published in the UK, comprising a selection by Lowell from his first major collection Lord Weary’s Castle (1946), and elements of the earlier Land of  Unlikeness (1944). This selection was never issued in the US. £50

HUGH MACDIARMID. Penny Wheep. Poems. William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh & London 1926. First edition of the author’s second book of verse, with the second state pebbled board binding. 8vo. 90pp + vi publisher’s catalogue at rear. A trace of light partial browning to endpapers and several tiny slivers of discolouration to cloth extremities. Very good indeed in dust wrapper, tanned at spine panel and extremities of front and rear panels, and a little rubbed, stained and chipped with several tiny slivers of loss. Forty-seven poems and a glossary. £50

ROGER MCGOUGH. Watchwords. Poems. Jonathan Cape, London 1969. First edition – the most uncommon casebound issue. Slim 8vo. 56pp. Marbled paper-covered cloth. Just a trace of light spotting to edges, else a fine copy in tanned and occasionally marked pictorial dust wrapper. Thirty-two poems, McGough’s first solo collection, really quite scarce in this casebound state (a more common paperback version was issued simultaneously). £75

ROGER MCGOUGH. After the Merrymaking. Poems. Jonathan Cape, London 1971. First edition. Slim 8vo. 71pp. A fine copy in dust wrapper, fine but for the tiniest area of chafing to head of spine panel. Forty-seven poems, the author’s second collection of verse which, like his first collection Watchwords, is extremely uncommon in this casebound format (a more common paperback version was issued simultaneously). £75

ROGER MCGOUGH. The Way Things Are. Poems. Viking, London 1999. First edition – this copy signed by the author on the front endpaper and dated the year of publication. Slim 8vo. 83pp. In fine state with fine dust wrapper.  Fifty-seven poems, all bar three appearing here in print for the first time. £25

LOUIS MACNEICE. The Last Ditch. Poems. The Cuala Press, Dublin 1940. First edition, limited to 450 copies. Slim 8vo. 34pp. Linen-backed paper-covered boards, lettered in black at the upper board and with a with a slightly tanned and chipped paper spine label. All edges untrimmed. With a title page vignette and a loose tissue protector. Corner tips chafed and with just a hint of marking to the boards in one or two places. A very good copy, lacking the unprinted glassine protector. Nineteen poems plus five novelettes. Armitage & Clark A14. £200

LOUIS MACNEICE. Visitations. Poems. Faber, London 1957. First edition. Slim 8vo. 60pp. A touch of light dust soiling to the top edge, else a fine copy in very good dust wrapper, lightly faded at the spine panel and with three tiny closed edge-tears, one of which has a little light accompanying creasing. The original Poetry Book Society wrap-around band is in situ. Twenty-six poems, some reprinted from the pages of Encounter and London Magazine, and the remainder appearing here in print for the first time. Armitage & Clark A29a. £35

JOHN MASEFIELD. Selected Poems. With a preface by John Betjeman. Paradine, London 1978. The deluxe issue of this selection, limited to 100 specially bound copies, signed by John Betjeman (this copy signed but not numbered). 8vo. 328pp. Half-bound leather with cloth sides. All edges gilt. In fine state. No dust wrapper called for. Issued to mark the centenary of Masefield’s birth, Betjeman’s three-page preface precedes sixty-four poems plus an index of first lines. £325

ROLAND MATHIAS. Absalom in the Tree and other poems. Gomer Press, Llandysul 1971. First edition – this copy inscribed by the author: “For Jeremy [Hooker] / whose encouragement / and criticism I acknowledge / with deep gratitude / Roland / 14 August 1971”. Slim 8vo. 50pp.  A very good copy in dust wrapper, with a small area of rubbing to top edge and some light internal spotting. Twenty-three poems, winner of the Welsh Arts Council prize for poetry. £25

ROLAND MATHIAS. Snipe’s Castle. Poems. Gomer Press, Llandysul 1979. First edition – this copy with a lengthy presentation inscription from the author to Jeremy Hooker, dated the year of publication. Slim 8vo. 89pp. A trace of bruising to spine ends and marking to boards. Very good indeed in lightly tanned and faded dust wrapper. Thirty-one poems, winner of the Welsh Arts Council prize for poetry. £25

MARIANNE MOORE. Collected Poems. Faber, London 1951. First edition, second issue, with a cancel title page and the Macmillan imprint to the base of the backstrip (copies of this issue were printed and bound by Faber for the US Macmillan issue; unsold copies were returned to Faber and a cancel title page added). 8vo. 180pp. A touch of very light uneven fading to the cloth, and just a trace of bruising to the spine ends. Very good indeed in very good dust wrapper, marred only by a little light fading to the publisher’s spine panel colouring. This copy from the library of fellow poet Andrew Crozier, with his name and the date October 1961 neatly inked to the front free endpaper. Seventy-one poems from Selected Poems (1935) and What Are Years (1941), and including nine previously uncollected poems plus an index of first lines. £50

PAUL MULDOON. Medley for Morin Khur. Poems. Enitharmon Press, London 2005. First edition, limited to 200 numbered and signed copies (175 of which were for sale). Tall 8vo. 25pp. Plain card wrappers with a handsome marbled paper dust wrapper (with exhibits a little internal off-setting from the marble design). In virtually fine state. The title poem followed by the thirteen-part sonnet sequence Horse Latitudes. £50

PAUL MULDOON. Plan B. Poems. With photographs by Norman McBeath. Enitharmon Press, London 2009. First edition. Slim 8vo. 63pp. Tip of one corner bumped, else a fine copy in fine dust wrapper. Ten poems, accompanied by twenty-eight McBeath photographs. £15

CLERE PARSONS. Poems. Faber, London 1932. First edition of the author’s only book (he edited the 1928 issue of the Oxford Poetry, but died of pneumonia a year before this collection of his verse was published at the age of only twenty-three). 8vo. 31pp. Card wrappers with an integral dust wrapper. Wrappers detached and a touch of very light spotting to occasional leaves. A fairly poorly preserved copy of an uncommon item. Eighteen poems. £75

SYLVIA PLATH. Uncollected Poems. Turret Books, ‘Turret Booklet’ series, London 1965. First edition, limited to 150 copies. 8vo. 19pp sewn into plain card wrappers. Twelve poems (including one facsimile holograph manuscript reproduction) written between the publication of the author’s collections The Colossus (1960) and Ariel (1965). A fine copy in fractionally marked dust wrapper featuring a drawing by the author (an illustration to accompany her poem Wuthering Heights, which is included here). Uncommon. £250

PETER PORTER. Once Bitten, Twice Bitten. Poems. Scorpion Press, Middlesex 1961. First edition of the author’s first book. Slim 8vo. 57pp. Top edge lightly spotted and with a tiny hint of additional spotting to several preliminary leaves and a few others. A very good, bright copy in laminated dust wrapper, lightly faded at spine panel and with some spotting to rear panel and front flap. Forty-four poems. Quite scarce. £50

JOHN COWPER POWYS. Samphire. Poems. Thomas Seltzer, New York 1922. First edition, first state. 12mo. 53pp. Two-tone paper covered boards featuring an interconnected six-pointed star design. Paper title labels to spine and upper board. A little light wear to head and foot of spine and a small tear to the lower rear gutter. Some chafing to board edges. Endpapers partially browned. Very good in pictorial dust wrapper, dust marked and with just a fraction of loss to the head of the spine panel. Neat former owner inked to rear panel. Twenty poems, never issued separately in the UK. £90

JOHN CROWE RANSOM. Chills and Fever. Poems. Alfred A.Knopf, New York 1924. First edition, in the first state binding of rainbow-patterned boards with a tanned and slightly chipped paper spine label and the publisher’s yellow top edge stain. 8vo. 95pp. A presentation copy, fondly inscribed by the author to fellow poet and Newdigate Prize winner David Posner, dated May 1943 and with two inked lines of verse beneath and Posner’s signature in pencil above. Some occasional light pencilled marginalia and some notes to the front free endpaper, probably in Julian Symons' hand but possibly also in Posner’s. Laid-in is a folded two-sided handwritten letter from Ransom to Julian Symons concerning an article on Restoration comedy which was to appear in the Ransom-edited journal The Kenyon Review. Biro mark to the rear board and just a fraction of tenderness to the front hinge. A very good copy in the uncommon dust wrapper, chipped with some notable edge-loss and with some internal taped repair. The author’s second regularly published book, containing forty-nine poems. £195

HERBERT READ. A World Within a War. Poems. Faber, London 1944. The first edition of this selection. Slim 8vo. 50pp. Cloth unevenly tanned and very slightly bumped at some extremities. Quite a bright copy in dusty, price-clipped dust wrapper. Seventeen poems, several of which appeared previously in Faber's Sesame series publication Thirty-Five Poems. £20

HERBERT READ. Moon's Farm and Poems Mostly Elegiac. Faber, London 1955. First edition. Slim 8vo. 77pp. Top edge lightly spotted, else in virtually fine state with triflingly nicked and faded dust wrapper, with Poetry Book Society wrap-around. Twenty poems plus the title piece, a Dialogue for Three Voices written for the BBC and first broadcast in January 1951. £20

SIEGFRIED SASSOON (writing as ‘Saul Kain’). The Daffodil Murderer. Being the Chantrey Prize Poem. John Richmond Ltd., London 1913. First edition of Sassoon’s pseudonymous first trade edition book, of which 1,000 copies were printed and issued on 10th February 1913. 8vo. 30pp. Sewn orange wrappers with red lettering. A three-page preface by William Butler (i.e. T.W.H.Crosland) precedes Sassoon’s twenty-two page poem. Some quite light fox-spotting throughout. A very good copy of a most uncommon item. Keynes A10. £250

Sassoon’s poem was intended as a parody of Masefield’s The Everlasting Mercy and was printed by T.W.H.Crosland, who supplies a spurious preface as ‘William Butler’ (“Though a life-long abstainer, Mr Saul Kain is well acquainted with the insides of various public-houses”). The only paper to review the poem was The Athenaeum, a publication hostile to Crosland who had recently jumped ship, and this is perhaps reflected in their review “The only conclusion we obtain from its perusal is that it is easy to write worse than Mr. Masefield”. Nevertheless, following a recommendation from Sassoon’s friend Edmund Goose the poem served as a valuable introduction to Edward Marsh.

SIEGFRIED SASSOON. Vigils. Poems. Heinemann, London 1935. First trade edition. Slim 8vo. 35pp. Buckram, faded at the backstrip and lightly marked in one or two places. A little light spotting throughout. A very crisp and bright copy, lacking the dust wrapper. Thirty-five poems, twelve more than in the limited issue of a year earlier. Keynes A39d. £20

SIEGFRIED SASSOON. Rhymed Ruminations. Poems. Faber, London 1940. The first trade and first casebound edition, following a limited edition of seventy-five copies. Slim 8vo. 52pp. Cloth lightly spotted with some damp markings to top edge of upper and lower boards encroaching to pastedowns. A tiny hint of spotting to endpapers and half-title, else an extremely crisp and bright copy internally, in very slightly marked and chafed dust wrapper, with a single short closed tear and some tanning to the spine panel. Forty-two poems. £30

FRANCIS SCARFE. Inscapes. Poems. The Fortune Press, London 1940. First edition. Slim 8vo. 63pp. With a caricature portrait frontispiece. Covers just a little spotted. A bright copy in slightly nicked and chafed dust wrapper. Forty poems. £25

JO SHAPCOTT. Electroplating the Baby. Poems. Bloodaxe Books, Newcastle upon Tyne 1988. First edition of Shapcott’s first book – this copy signed by the author on the title-page. Slim 8vo. 64pp. Card wrappers (never issued in casebound format). A tiny trace of chafing to head of rear wrapper, else in fine state. Sixty-two poems, winner of the Commonwealth Poetry Prize for Best First Collection. £35

JO SHAPCOTT. Of Mutability. Poems. Faber, London 2010. First edition – this copy signed by the author on the title page. Slim 8vo. 54pp. In fine state with fine dust wrapper. Forty-five poems, the author's first collection of verse for twelve years and winner of the Costa Book Award. £50

STEVIE SMITH. A Good Time was Had by All. Poems, with illustrations by the author. Jonathan Cape, London 1937. First edition. 8vo. 96pp. Fore- and bottom edges untrimmed and with the publisher’s blue top edge stain, just a little faded. Some spotting to several preliminary and concluding leaves, and lightly throughout. Contemporary (1938) former owner gift inscription neatly inked to the head of the front free endpaper. A nice crisp copy in price-clipped dust wrapper, dust soiled and a little darkened, with several tiny slivers of loss from the spine ends and several corner tips, a short tear to the base of the spine panel, and a short crease to the base of the front panel. The author’s second book and first collection of verse: seventy-six poems accompanied by twenty-seven of her delightful line drawings. £95

STEPHEN SPENDER. Twenty Poems. Basil Blackwell, Oxford [1930]. First edition of the author’s second book, [printed at the Shakespeare head Press] and limited to 135 copies – this being number 8 of 75 copies signed by the author.  Slim 8vo. 23pp. Card wrappers with an integral dust wrapper which serves at the title page. The covers a little marked and tanned, and the lower yapped edge slightly nicked. A very good copy. £375

STEPHEN SPENDER. I Sit at the Window. A broadsheet poem. [Linden Press, Widdington] [c.1940]. First edition of the fifth Linden Broadsheet poem, limited to 175 numbered copies, signed on the reverse by the author (this being #47). A single sheet measuring 29cm x 22cm, and featuring a handsome three-colour drawing by Honor Frost, into which Spender’s twenty-five line poem has been set. In virtually fine state. In total six Linden Broadsheets were issued, between 1939-40, all of which are now extremely uncommon. £200

STEPHEN SPENDER. The Generous Days. Faber, London 1971. First edition. Slim 8vo. 47pp. Top edge lightly spotted, else in fine state with fine dust wrapper. ‘Guido’ Morris-designed former owner bookplate to front pastedown. Forty-three poems. £10

NATHANIEL TARN. Where Babylon Ends. Poems. Cape Goliard, London 1968. First edition, one of a limited issue of 50 signed and numbered copies. Slim 8vo. Thirty leaves of unpaginated text. Paper-covered boards. With an illustrated double-spread title page, one drawing and two overlays.  Tip of one corner bumped. Very good indeed in price-clipped and fractionally edge worn dust wrapper. The author’s second collection of verse. £35

A.D.J.TESSIMOND. The Walls of Glass. Poems. Methuen, ‘The Gateway Poets’ series, London 1934. First edition of the author’s first book. Small 8vo. 39pp. Paper-covered boards with paper title label. Backstrip missing and with just a hint of very light spotting to the head of the half-title and title page. A very bright copy of a scarce book, lacking the uncommon dust wrapper. Thirty-nine poems, the first of three regularly published collections issued in the author’s lifetime. £35

D.M.THOMAS. Selected Poems. Secker & Warburg, London 1983. First edition – this copy signed by the author on the half-title and dated the year of publication. 130pp. 8vo. In fine state with dust wrapper, just lightly faded at spine panel. Fifty-three poems. £25

DYLAN THOMAS. From ‘In Memory of Anne Jones’. The Caseg Press, Llanllechid [1924]. First edition of the fifth number of the Caseg broadsheets, of which 500 copies were printed. A single sheet measuring 27.3cm x 18.5cm. Thomas’ thirty-one-line extract (from a poem originally printed in The Map of Love, with the first nine lines here omitted and with one minor textual alteration, which Rolph suggests may be a misprint), accompanied by a specially executed black and white drawing by Brenda Chamberlain. A touch of occasional superficial creasing and just a hint of fox-spotting to the extreme edges. A virtually fine copy of this Caseg broadsheet, all of which are now extremely uncommon (in total six were issued, with two more reaching the final proofing stage before financial constraints and ultimately the death of Alun Lewis brought the creative endeavour to a halt). Rolph B8. £250

DYLAN THOMAS. Collected Poems 1934-1952. J.M.Dent, London 1952. The first edition of this collection. Demy 8vo. 178pp. Portrait frontispiece of the author by Augustus John. Lacking the front free endpaper and with just a hint of light bruising to the spine ends. A very bright copy in dust wrapper, very lightly tanned and dust soiled and nicked at the head of the spine panel with several tiny fractions of loss and with a little further very light wear to one or two other extremities. A brief note by the author and a prologue in verse precedes eighty-nine poems, ten of them hitherto unprinted in the UK in trade bookform. Rolph B.16. £75

R.S.THOMAS. Tares. Poems. Rupert Hart-Davis, London 1961. First edition. Slim 8vo. 48pp. Paper-covered boards. A sliver of near-invisible browning to the free endpapers, else in fine state with lightly spotted and rubbed price-clipped dust wrapper with a sliver of loss from the head of the spine panel and several tiny closed tears to the natural folds. Thirty-six poems. £25

R.S.THOMAS. The Bread of Truth. Poems. Rupert Hart-Davis, London 1963. First edition. Slim 8vo. 48pp. Paper-covered boards. Top edge lightly spotted, spine ends gently bruised and with just a trace of spotting to margins of rear board. A very good copy in price-clipped and lightly fox spotted dust wrapper, tanned at spine panel and a little rubbed and chafed at top edge with just a sliver of loss to spine ends. Former owner gift inscription inked to front endpaper. Thirty-nine poems, the author’s seventh collection of verse. £30

R.S.THOMAS. Experimenting with an Amen. Poems. Macmillan, London 1986. First edition. Slim 8vo. 70pp. A fine copy in virtually fine dust wrapper, marred only by a little fading to the publisher’s red spine panel colouring. Sixty-seven poems. £30

RUTHVEN TODD. Until Now. Poems. Fortune Press, London [1942]. First edition. 51pp. Some edges of covers a little faded. Quite a bright copy in stained and slightly rubbed dust wrapper. Handsome former owner bookplate to front endpaper. Thirty-nine poems. £40

CHARLES TOMLINSON. The Necklace. Poems. With a five-page introduction by Donald Davie and a new one-page preface by the author. Oxford University Press, London 1966. The second edition – and first casebound issue - of the author’s second collection of verse, originally issued by the Fantasy Press in 1955. This copy fondly inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper and dated March 1969. Slim 8vo. 16pp. Two or three instances of light pencilled marginalia (which could easily be erased if desired). A virtually fine copy in price-clipped dust wrapper, lightly tanned at the spine panel and with a tiny hint of chafing to one or two extremities. Fifteen poems. £25

CHARLES TOMLINSON. American Scenes and other poems. Oxford University Press, London 1966. First edition. Slim 8vo. 62pp. Short creases to the corners of seven adjacent text leaves. A trace of dust marking to cloth and a number of tiny pin-pricks of spotting to occasional leaf margins, plus a single short production fault crease to the head of one leaf. A very good copy in dust wrapper, a little rubbed at top edge, lightly tanned at spine panel, and nicked with two tiny fractions of loss to the head of the spine panel. Forty-eight poems, many of which were written during the year the author spent as a visiting professor at the University of New Mexico. Relevant Poetry Book Society Bulletin laid-in, tanned and creased at several edges. £15

JOHN WAIN. Wildtrack. A poem. Macmillan, London 1965. First edition. Slim 8vo. 50pp. Pictorial boards featuring a striking design by Victor Reinganum, repeated on the dust wrapper. A fine copy in virtually fine price-clipped dust wrapper. £10

DEREK WALCOTT. Tiepolo's Hound. A poem. With twenty-six colour-plates reproducing the author’s paintings. Faber, London 2000. First edition. Small 4to. 164pp. A touch of very light wear to the spine ends. A virtually fine copy in virtually fine dust wrapper, with just a touch of corresponding wear to the spine panel ends and a short crease to the front flap. £35

ALICE WALKER. Her Blue Body Everything We Know. Earthling Poems 1965-1990 Complete. The Women’s Press, London 1991. The first UK edition, issued the same year as the US edition but somewhat more uncommon. This copy signed by the author on the half-title. 8vo. xvi, 463pp. A tiny bump to the tip of one corner and just a hint of tanning to the leaf margins. A virtually fine copy in fine dust wrapper. A two-page preface by the author precedes her complete collected poems, arranged chronologically and including new introductions to the four primary collections. The following collections are represented in full: Once, Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems, Revolutionary Petunias…The Living Through, Crucifixions, Mysteries…The Living Beyond, The Nature of This Flower is to Bloom, Good Night, Willie Lee, I’ll See You in the Morning, On Stripping Back Myself…, Early Losses: A Requiem, Facing the Way, Forgiveness, Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful and We Have a Beautiful Mother: Previously Uncollected Poems. £75

SYLVIA TOWNSEND WARNER. The Espalier. Poems. Lincoln MacVeagh, The Dial Press, New York 1925. The first American edition of the author's first book, printed from the UK sheets with a cancel title page. 8vo. 101pp. Handsome cloth-backed patterned boards, faded at some edges and a little bumped at tips of two corners. With a paper spine label and patterned endpapers. Back cover slightly stained. A nice, bright copy in dust wrapper, tanned at the spine panel, a little darkened at the edges with a touch of light chafing and an area of staining to the rear panel. The dust wrapper would initially appear to be a later issue, as it lists two subsequent titles from 1926 and 1927; however of few the copies in jackets that we have been able to identify, all have the same wrapper, which suggests that the publication date for this US edition was probably a year or so later than the 1925 date stated on the title page. Sixty-one poems. £50

SYLVIA TOWNSEND WARNER. Time Importuned. Poems. Chatto & Windus, London 1928. First edition. 8vo. Covers slightly faded at spine and some edges and spine-label nicked. No jacket. £40

SYLVIA TOWNSEND WARNER AND VALENTINE ACKLAND. Whether a Dove or Seagull. Poems. The Viking Press, New York 1933. First edition. This copy inscribed by Valentine Ackland: “Ruth, with dearest love - Valentine 1933” and beneath this another hand has pencilled “Sylvia”, although I cannot be certain that this is the handwriting of Townsend Warner. 8vo. 153pp. Cloth-backed paper boards with slightly defective gilt lettering. A little light spotting to preliminary and concluding leaves, and occasionally throughout. A very good copy in dust wrapper: tanned, stained, chafed, nicked and chipped with a little loss, and the spine panel lettering no longer visible. One-hundred and nine poems, fifty-four of them by Warner and the remainder written by her lover and long-term partner Ackland, although all remain unaccredited (a former owner has pencilled appropriate initials against each index entry, which could be easily erased if desired). A challenging and valiant experiment in anonymity, the collection was received coldly, all but ending the poetry careers of both authors – Warner did not issue another full collection of verse in her lifetime, claiming in a letter to the publisher of her Selected Poems (1985) "I intend to be a posthumous poet!" Both US and UK editions are extremely scarce – and much more so with the presentation inscription (I have been unable to identify ‘Ruth’ – it was the name of Ackland’s mother, although it seems unlikely that she would address her so). £500

VERNON WATKINS. Ballad of the Mari Lwyd and other poems. Faber, London 1941. First edition. Slim 8vo. 92pp. A trace of light partial browning to endpapers. Very good indeed in dust wrapper, tanned at spine panel (but much less so than the above copy), with a single tiny enclosed hole and with a touch of minor chafing to one or two extremities, a single tiny closed tear and a small area of taped reinforcement. Forty-two poems, the author's first book. £50

VERNON WATKINS. The Death Bell. Poems and Ballads. Faber, London 1954. First edition. Slim 8vo. 112pp. Edges and leaf margins lightly spotted. A very good copy in very good dust wrapper, lightly chafed at the head of the spine panel and with a single lone fox-spot blemish and a short tear and accompanying crease to the upper edge of the rear panel. Former owner bookplate to the front pastedown.  Twenty-one poems and eight ballads, the author’s fourth collection of verse. £20

VERNON WATKINS. Cypress and Acacia. Poems. Faber, London 1959. First edition. Slim 8vo. 102pp. A touch of spotting to the top edge, else in fine state with virtually fine price-clipped dust wrapper, very lightly faded at the spine panel. Former owner bookplate to the front pastedown. Forty-seven poems, the author’s fifth collection of verse. £20

VERNON WATKINS. The Collected Poems of Vernon Watkins. Golgonooza Press, Ipswich 1986. The first trade edition of this collection of nearly four hundred poems, which comprises the seven collections published in Watkins’ lifetime, plus his three posthumous collections. 8vo. 495pp. Very good indeed in lightly edgeworn dust wrapper, somewhat sunned at spine panel. This copy from the library of David Gascoyne, with his neat bookplate to the front pastedown. £75

DOROTHY WELLESLEY. Desert Wells. Poems. Michael Joseph, London 1946. First edition. Slim 8vo. 55pp. A little spotting to front endpaper else a very crisp and bright copy, albeit printed on cheap quality wartime paper. In slightly marked else very good dust wrapper. Forty-two poems. £10

PETER WHIGHAM. The Blue Winged Bee: Love Poems of the VIth Dalai Lama [and] The Ingathering of Love. Anvil Press Poetry, Middlesex 1969. First trade edition. Slim 8vo. 61pp + a select bibliography. With a frontispiece portrait of the author by Gary Brown. A very nice copy in slightly faded dust wrapper, with Poetry Book Society wrap-around band. £10

CHARLES WILLIAMS. Divorce. Poems. Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, London 1920. First edition. 8vo. 120pp. Top edge lightly spotted, with some spotting and discolouration to the backstrip cloth. A strip of light partial browning to the free endpapers. Former owner details, dated 1955, neatly inked to the front free endpaper. Binding just a little tender at the title leaf and at two other gatherings, and with a small area of surface abrasion to the inner margin of one text leaf, not impacting the text. A nice bright copy in dust wrapper, split into two parts at the rear panel-spine panel join, and a little chipped, nicked and tanned, but now protected and presenting respectably. Fifty-eight poems, the author’s third collection of verse. £150