The Criterion : A Quarterly Review, Vol. XVIII Number LXXI, January 1939 by [Literary Magazines] [ed. ELIOT, T.S.]

London: Faber, 1939. 8vo, pp. 179-413, 8pp. advertisements bound in at front, and printed cessation slip tipped in. Unopened. 8pp. index to Vol. XVIII laid in. Original printed stiff paper wrappers. Leading and lower edges uncut. Edgewear to (oversized) wrappers, some sunning to spine and front panel. First edition, and the last issue, with the volume's printed index laid in, and the printed cessation slip tipped in. The contributors to this final issue of Eliot's influential literary magazine include Hugh MacDiarmid, Ezra Pound and Henry Miller. The cessation slip tipped in at the issue's first page directs the reader to a statement by Eliot entitled Last Words on pp.269 - 275, in which he writes: 'Sixteen years is a long time for one man to remain editor of a review; for this review, I have sometimes wondered whether it has not been too long. [...] I am convinced that The Criterion is not the kind of review which can be taken up and continued by one editor after another. [...] If a similar review is needed, then it will be far better for someone else to start a new review with a new title.' (Cyril Connolly took up the challenge: the first issue of Horizon appeared in December 1939.) Scarce with the index, which more often than not has got lost along the way.