My Garden. By William H. Davies. LONDON : 1930. HARDBACK in JACKET.

London: Jonathan Cape, 30 Bedford Square, 1930. Third Impression . Hardcover. Near Fine/Very Good. 8vo. Illustrations by Hilda Quick.. LONDON : 1930. Hardback. Illustrations by Hilda Quick.Original green cloth; gilt lettered spine. In cream pictorial dust-jacket (not price-clipped). Neat inscription dated 1933; no internal markings. Bright, tight and clean. Minor wear and dulling to jacket with a neat repair to head of spine. NEAR FINE. In VERY GOOD jacket; now in a clear protective sleeve. (xvi), 127 pages. 8vo. **Will be well-packed for posting/shipping**. [ Rosley Books for the Inklings, Antiquarian books, Cumberland, Literature, Rarities, Theology and History. ]. WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES (3 July 1871 - 26 September 1940) was a Welsh poet and writer, who spent much of his life as a tramp or hobo in the United Kingdom and the United States yet became one of the most popular poets of his time. His themes included observations on life's hardships, the ways the human condition is reflected in nature, his tramping adventures and the characters he met. His work has been classed to as Georgian, though it is not typical of that class of work in theme or style. Davies self-published his first slim book of poetry, THE SOUL'S DESTROYER, in 1905, again by means of his savings. It proved to be the beginning of success and a growing reputation. To publish it, Davies forwent his allowance to live as a tramp for six months (with the first draft of the book hidden in his pocket), just to secure a loan of funds from his inheritance. After it was published, the volume was ignored. He resorted to posting individual copies by hand to prospective wealthy customers chosen from the pages of Who's Who, asking them to send the price of the book, a half crown, in return. He sold 60 of the 200 copies printed. One of the copies went to Arthur St John Adcock, then a journalist with the Daily Mail. On reading the book, he later wrote in his essay "Gods of Modern Grub Street", Adcock said he "recognised there were crudities and doggerel in it, there was also in it some of the freshest and most magical poetry to be found in modern books." He sent the price of the book, then asked Davies to meet him. Adcock is seen as "the man who discovered Davies." The first trade edition of The Soul's Destroyer was published by Alston Rivers in 1907. A second edition followed in 1908 and a third in 1910. A 1906 edition, by Fifield, was advertised but has not been verified. 8vo. **Will be well-packed for posting/shipping**. [ Rosley Books for Antiquarian books, CHS, Cumberland, Everyman, GKC, Inklings, Keswick, Literature, MacDonald, Rarities, Theology and History. ]. SCARCE.