Aldington's Final Book of Verse, in Elegant Vellum with Much Visual and Tactile Appeal, Perhaps Given as a Romantic Gift to "A"

THE CRYSTAL WORLD.

(BINDINGS - PAINTED VELLUM). ALDINGTON, RICHARD.

(London: William Heinemann Limited, 1937). Book: 245 x 152 mm. (9 3/4 x 6"); Case: 330 x 235 mm. (13 x 9 1/4"). 3 p.l., 34 pp. FIRST EDITION.

LOVELY CONTEMPORARY STIFF VELLUM, GILT AND PAINTED, covers with delicate gilt frame, sprays of flower and leaves at each corner, outlined in gilt and painted blue and green, central lozenge outlined in gilt dots and framed by painted flowers and leaves, a large initial "A" in gilt at center, smooth spine divided into compartments with gilt and painted floral ornament, turn-ins with gilt floral roll, sky blue silk endleaves, all edges gilt. Housed in a fine oversized blue morocco case designed to look like a book, with gilt lettering on the upper cover, raised bands, gilt ruled compartments and lettering to spine, the interior constructed and padded to hold the smaller book, and lined with blue velvet (spine of case a bit sunned, corners a little rubbed, clasp no longer functional). A FINE COPY, clean and fresh internally, in a pristine binding.

With very considerable visual and tactile appeal, this is a gracefully bound copy of the the final book of verse issued by Richard Aldington, published before he turned exclusively to writing prose. A leading poet of the early 20th-century Imagist school, Aldington (né Edward Godfree Aldington, 1892-1962) was a prolific writer whose 50-year career produced novels, biographies, translations, and literary criticism as well as sharp, minimalist free verse. He was part of the contemporary London avant-garde crowd, being close friends with Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, Amy Lowell, and D. H. Lawrence; and he was especially close to the poet H. D. (Hilda Doolittle), his first wife from 1913-38. As literary editor of the leading Modernist periodical, "The Egoist," he was an integral part of the pre-World War I literary scene, and his first, largely autobiographical work, "Death of a Hero" (1929), was considered by George Orwell and Lawrence Durrell to be the best of the English Great War novels. The poems here were written in the mid-1930s, when Aldington had decamped to the United States after the woman he loved, Netta Patmore, rejected his proposal of marriage. While tracing his grief and longing, the verses also build the image of a "crystal world" created by the love of an ardent couple, concluding that "Only from the purity of extreme passion, / And, alas, the purity of extreme pain, / Can you build the crystal world." Happily, Aldington's beloved Netta, to whom the work is dedicated, reversed her decision and agreed in 1938 to help him build their crystal world together. The present lovely binding is unsigned, but the delicate, precise tooling and elegant design indicate the work of very talented hands. The romantic contents and the rather feminine aspect of the binding suggest that this was a gift from one lover to another, perhaps a recipient sharing the initial "A" with our author. And the oversized and extravagant custom case indicates how much this object was treasured. (ST21066)

Price: $1,500.00