The Poems of St. John the Cross. Spanish Text with a Translation by Roy Campbell. ; Inscribed by Helen Cutting, with an ALS from her laid-in

Autograph; Square Small 4to; 189 pages; Original maroon boards backed with gilt-stamped pigskin spine -- top edges trimmed, fore and bottom edges left rough -- "bound by Master Bookbinding Company, Inc., New York" [colophon]. The volume is in fine condition, the original dust jacket, which matches the design of the boards, shows minor wear along the spine (fading, wrinkling and some erosion at the top and bottom). Housed in the original slipcase covered with matching maroon paper, which displays minor rubbling and wear along the edges. A special American fine press edition, which used the Spanish text facing pages with Roy Cambell's translation which was originally published by the Harvill Press, London (and credited on this title page). Handsome full page illustrations by Elsa Schmid -- Painter, Mosaicist, Sculptor (1897-1970). Printed in black and red, throughout. The colophon at the end states: "Twenty-five copies were printed privately on handmade paper from Hamilton Farms Paper Mill at Gladstone, New Jersey. None are [sic] for sale. The drawings are by Elsa Schmid. The type is12 point Palatino, set at Huxley House, New York. The book was printed at Olsen Press, Newark, and bound by Master Bookbinding Company, Inc., of New York. Beneath this printed colophon leaf, there is an inscription in ink: "Alice Longworth / from / Helen Cutting / Paper-maker / June 1960." The South African born poet Roy Cambell had a special affinity for the Carmelites. After moving on from France, Cambell and his wife settled in Toledo, Spain, where they were received into the Roman Catholic Church. In 1935, the Cambells had sheltered some of the local Carmelite monks during anti-clerical rioting. By June of 1936, the communist forces from Madrid arrived in Toledo. The seventeen monks from the Carmelite monastery were rounded up, marched into the street and shot. Roy Cambell discovered their bodies, and made a lasting memorial of the grisly events in his poem 'The Carmelites of Toledo.' His sympathies for Franco and the political right caused some lasting turbulence within his circles in England. John of the Cross (1542-1591) was a major figure of the Counter-Reformation, a Spanish mystic, a Roman Catholic Saint, a Carmelite friar. He is both one of the 26 Doctors of the Catholic Church, and one of the foremost poets in the Spanish language. This text with the Roy Campbell translations into English won the 1951 William Foyle Poetry Prize. That text is acknowledge on the tile page of this fine press edition -- "with the kind permission of the Haverill Press Ltd., London, England." Father Martin Cyril D'Arcy SJ (1888—1976), Catholic priest and philosopher, had a wide circle of friends and acquantances in the fields of literature and the arts. He may have helped arrange the introduction of the artist Elsa Schmid to this edition; her papers at the Archives of American Art include correspondence from Father D'Arcy. As for Alice Roosevelt Longworth, her interest in Catholicism predated the conversions to the church of her daughter Paulina, and Joanna Sturm, the granddaughter she raised after Paulina's death. This spendid Olsen Press edition was also published in an edition of 110 copies printed on Fabriano mould made paper, (made in Italy). This special edition of 25 copies is rare, both in commerce and institutional holdings. See OCLC Number: 314002263 -- (one location: Yale -- [LSF - Haas Arts Special Collections (Non-Circulating). ."a transfer from the Walpole Library. It was originally a gift to Wilmarth .S. Lewis from the paper-maker, Helen Cutting, who signed the colophon. An ALS from Cutting to Lewis is laid in]. Incidentally, the Foyle Prize was presented to Campbell by Stephen Spender, who had previously been punched in the face by Roy Cambell after the latter jumped up onto a stage during a reading by Spender, - a member of the Communist party at that time.; Signed by Notable Personage, Related.…