BRIDGES, Robert.

£3,000 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Poems Written in the Year MCMXIII. First edition, one of 85 copies printed on paper; there were also 6 copies on vellum. This volume prints 11 poems by Bridges in book form for the first time. C. H. St John Hornby writes that the book "was done for private circulation only, 50 copies going to the Poet Laureate & the remainder being distributed by myself. No copies were sold" (Hornby, p. 70).Bridges had "a fervid interest in phonetic spelling, harpsichord music, and high-quality printing of books" (Day, p. 308). He wrote the contents of this volume in the year he was appointed Poet Laureate, and with an evident respect for the Ashendene Press, approached Hornby stating "I hope that you will not think the little poems unworthy of your press... I am willing to be judged by these poems, and am anxious to print them... I am really glad that I shall not be wasting much of your time in setting up my effusions" (Hornby, p. 70).Due to the First World War, "when the book was finished the Press was closed down until the beginning of 1920" (Hornby, p. 70). The initials were presumably added by the calligrapher Graily Hewitt (1864-1952).

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