A Mad Lady's Garland
by PITTER, Ruth; BELLOC, Hilaire (Preface)
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good
- Seller
-
Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: The Cresset Press, 1934. Very Good. FIRST EDITION. 8vo, pp. viii, 75, (1). Terracotta cloth, black stamped title labels, lettered and framed in gilt, to spine and upper board. First and bottom edges untrimmed. A few stains to boards, faint offsetting to endpapers, a few fox spots to untrimmed edges, else, clean and tidy. In the original dust jacket: spine sunned, small loss to head of spine, toned, a few chips, creasing to top edges. Very good/ good+ A lovely copy of Pitter's fourth collection, which first brought her to public attention. The British poet and craftswoman "first attracted public attention with A Mad Lady's Garland (1934), a brilliantly crafted work reflecting her early exercises, encouraged by [A. R.] Orage, in the art of pastiche"; another contemporary, John Stewart Collis, recalled "[h]er remarkable range, and the subtlety of her oblique lyrical assault" (ODNB). The collection features poems voicing a coffin-worm ("The Worm unto his love"), earwig, 'the virtuous female spider', a performing flea and church mouse, amongst others, who "speak so classically, with so exquisite an artifice, that I am stayed to listen to them" ('AE' (George William Russell), rear panel blurb). Pitter (1897-1992) was a perpetual prize-winner across her writing life: from the Hawthornden Prize in 1937 for A Trophy of Arms: Poems 1926�1935 through the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 1955 (a first for a woman) to her appointment as CBE in 1979 for her contributions to English literature, she was justly honoured. As Thom Gunn observed: "Ruth Pitter is the most modest of poets, slipping us her riches as if they were everyday currency".
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Quair Books (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 2473
- Title
- A Mad Lady's Garland
- Author
- PITTER, Ruth; BELLOC, Hilaire (Preface)
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- The Cresset Press
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1934
- Bookseller catalogs
- Modern Firsts;
Terms of Sale
Quair Books
All our books are fully described. In the unlikely event of an item proving unsatisfactory, it may be returned, in its original condition, for a full refund. If you intend to return an item please email us (via quairbooks@gmail.com) within 7 working days of receipt of your parcel. Items may be returned (as received) within 14 days of receipt. Thank you!
About the Seller
Quair Books
Biblio member since 2019
Leeds, West Yorkshire
About Quair Books
Based in West Yorkshire, Quair Books specialises in modern literary and visual cultures, particularly alternative, different and radical authors/ artists, presses and histories. We hold a small general stock, with a focus on unusual, interesting and beautiful books, as well as significant books in the history of ideas. Find us online at: quairbooks.co.uk; email us on: quairbooks@gmail.com and Twitter: @quairbooks.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Good+
- A term used to denote a condition a slight grade better than Good.
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Sunned
- Damage done to a book cover or dust jacket caused by exposure to direct sunlight. Very strong fluorescent light can cause slight...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...