ID: 2422
Last Poems.
THOMAS, Edward
Category: First edition
Place/Publisher/Date:
London, Selwyn & Blount. 1918.
Description:
First edition; 8vo; original boards, printed spine label and original dust jacket. With no adverts to the rear. Ownership inscription of Cornelius Weygandt (Professor of English Literature at the University of Pennsylvania, 1871-1957) on title page dated 6 December 1920. Cornelius Weygandt was a close friend of Robert Frost and their correspondence is held in Dartmouth College Library's Robert Frost Collection. In one of the most moving letters in the collection, Frost tells Weygandt that fellow poet and close friend Edward Thomas had died that week in battle. The letter serves to introduce Weygandt to the poet he would never meet: "And he wasn't in love with death. He went to death because he didn't like going. I meant to have you know him." (Amherst, to Cornelius Weygandt, Philadelphia, 29 April 1917). Eckert (p246) states that this book 'is obviously a war time production, of poor paper and binding' and is therefore rarely found in fine condition. A near fine copy in a good dust jacket which has a chip at the head of spine with loss of a few letters, some other small chips or tears at extremities, lightly marked, faint spots to flaps. A rare copy of this fragile book in a dust jacket, with an association to Thomas's closest friend.
Price £3250.00
