BETJEMAN, John - PRINGLE, Roger (ed.).

£1,500 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

A Garland for the Laureate. First edition, number 4 of 75 copies signed by the 22 contributing poets, from a total edition of 350. The signatories include Stephen Spender, Elizabeth Jennings, Philip Larkin, and Betjeman's successor as poet laureate, Ted Hughes. Of the twenty-two poems included, all but two appear here in print for the first time.The collection was kept as a surprise from Betjeman until a copy was presented to him by Pringle, the press's founder, accompanied by many of the poets involved. The party allegedly arrived unannounced at Betjeman's house with bottles of champagne and smoked salmon sandwiches. Pringle also organized "A Ring of Bells For John Betjeman", a reading of Betjeman's poems by Prunella Scales and Timothy West during the Stratford-upon-Avon Poetry Festival.

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