Masks of Time; A New Collection of Poems Principally Meditative by Blunden, Edmund; Schwabe, Randolph (Illustrator) - 1925

[Westminster]: [The Beaumont Press], 1925. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine/fine. Schwabe, Randolph. Number 55 of 80, octavo size, 73 pp., signed by the author. Edward Blunden (1896-1974), English poet and author, served in World War I and wrote of his experiences in the war in both poetry and prose; "The Masks of Time" is a collection of poems in two parts, the first a series of general reflections of rustic scenes, the second (as stated by the author in a note preceding the poems) "...some verses relating to war experience and its reverberations, verses intended to take their place in a series which should be a comprehensive view of their great and strange subject...". Linocuts and initial capitals are by Randolph Schwabe (1885-1948), an English painter and etcher who served as a war artist in both World Wars and created stunning detailed illustrations for theatrical productions and books. Here, his work encapsulates the desperate horror of the war, realized in Blunden's haunting personal reflections.

___DESCRIPTION: Quarter white vellum with decorative paper boards, gilt lettering and ornaments on the spine, fore- and bottom edges rough cut, title page with green and black vignette of trees, two black-and-white illustrations by Rudolph Schwabe preceding each section, black-and-white illustrative initial capitals at the start of each poem, printer's design for The Beaumont Press on the verso of the last leaf; Japanese vellum paper, octavo size (9" by 6"), pagination: [i-xiii] [1-2] 3-59 [1 colophon], number 55 of 80 printed on Japanese vellum (total edition 390), signed by the author. In a clear acetate dust jacket (unsure whether this is publisher's or supplied).

___CONDITION:  A fine copy; the covers clean, the corners straight and unrubbed, the binding tight with solid hinges, the interior clean and bright, and free of prior owner markings; some sunning to the title page and verso of prior leaf, else fine. The acetate dust jacket also fine, clean and without wear.

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