Forty New Poems (1918, signed first edition)

Signed and dedicated by W H Davies

Author

Publisher

Printing Details

First edition. Hardback, blue / green cloth with gilt titling to upper board. 19.5 × 13cm, 53pp + 1pp ad.

Signed and dedicated by W H Davies to the ffep.

A collection of poems from Super-Tramp W H Davies, of chief interest (apart from his signature) is the inclusion of his poem Killed in Action (Edward Thomas) on page 22. Edward Thomas, who had been killed on the Western Front in 1917, had been an important figure for W H Davies. They met in 1905 when Thomas was the literary critic for the Daily Chronicle. Thomas rented him a small cottage near his own home in Kent, and almost single-handedly nurtured and developed the unknown, impoverished Welsh poet’s career. He even arranged for a local wheelwright/carpenter to build him a makeshift wooden leg (billed humorously as a "curiosity cricket bat").

Condition

A good plus copy. There is rubbing, bumping and fading to the boards commensurate with age, and very light spotted foxing and tanning to the pages. The book remains in strong readable condition.

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