COLLECTED POEMS 1934-1952 [1/13]

Dylan Thomas

Published by J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., London, 1959

A thirteenth impression of the true first edition, published in May 1959. As soon as the book was first published in November 1952, it was hugely successful and was rapidly reprinted - and reprinted another ten times in the 1950s before this thirteenth impression. Illustrated with a black and white photographic frontispiece portrait of Dylan Thomas by Augustus John to the fore. ***Very good in black cloth-covered boards with copper titles to the spine. The title are still nice and bright, having been protected by the dustwrapper. The boards are clean and unmarked. Head and tail of spine slightly creased. Corners sharp. Top edge of text-block stained dark red by the publisher - now faded slightly. Page block edges clean with no foxing. Internally also very good with a contemporaneous gift inscription in blue ink to the front free endpaper. No other annotations. Interior pages clean without any foxing. No creases or tears. Spine tight with no reading lean or spine creases. ***In a very good grey, red-printed dustwrapper, which has not been price-clipped, but has a publisher's 18/- net repricing label over the original publisher's price [which was 12s. 6d. net]. The top corner of the front flap is clipped. The dustwrapper is virtually complete, but has some small areas of loss at the head of the spine. The edges of the dustwrapper are generally creased, nicked and rubbed, and there is quite a long closed tear at the bottom edge of the back panel. Small loss and rubbing to corners of dustwrapper. The back panel of the dustwrapper is slightly marked and darkened [being a white background]. The spine of the dustwrapper is slightly faded, including the red titles. The red titles on the front panel are still bright. Dustwrapper foldover flaps clean and uncreased. ***222mm x144mm. 178 pages. ***'Mr. Dylan Thomas is one of the most widely discussed poets of his generation, and the place of his work in the field of modern poetry is assured. This volume gathers together all his published poems, including those from books which have been out of print for some while, that is to say from "Eighteen Poems" (1936), "The Map of Love" (1939), which contained sixteen poems as well as seven stories, and "Deaths and Entrances" (1946), which was among the few modern writings included in the Festival of Britain great books exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. In addition, the present volume includes ten new poems which have not hitherto appeared in book form, and the author has written a Prologue in Verse----' [Quote taken from the front flap of the dustwrapper from an earlier impression of the book] ***A later thirteenth impression of the true first edition, complete in its original thin and fragile thirteenth impression dustwrapper. Finding copies of "Collected Poems" in well-preserved original dustwrappers is becoming increasingly difficult as they were printed on very thin paper, and are prone to edge wear, creasing, chips and the light-grey colour is prone to fading. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc. Seller Inventory # 8355

Bibliographic Details

Title: COLLECTED POEMS 1934-1952 [1/13]
Publisher: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., London
Publication Date: 1959
Binding: Hardcover
Illustrator: Augustus John [Frontispiece illustration]
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
Edition: First Edition