Masefield, John.

John Masefield, Poet Laureate 1930-67, was a prodigious and best-selling writer. Out of fashion for many years, attention is beginning to focus, once again, on the writer whose poetry was respected by Hardy and Larkin, whose plays were praised by Shaw and whose novels were admired by Greene. John Betjeman noted that ‘Sea-Fever’ and ‘Cargoes’ were “two lyrics which will be remembered as long as the language lasts” and a November 2005 poll to discover the “Nation's Favourite Poem of the Sea” reveals Masefield as the only poet to feature twice in the top ten. A new edition of the author’s Selected Poems – the first for twenty years – was published earlier this year and the first full-text audio book versions of The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights have just been released.



This collection, assembled over many years, represents one of the finest masefield collections in private hands. Highlights include:



Salt-Water Ballads. Grant Richards, 1902, first edition of the author's first book (and first appearance of 'sea-fever'), original cloth, hinges splitting, booklabels



Ballads. Elkin Mathews, 1903, first edition of the author's second book (and first appearance of 'cargoes') signed by the author, original wrappers, some spotting;



numbered and signed english editions of: Reynard the Fox, 1919; Enslaved and other poems, 1920; Right Royal, 1920; King Cole, 1921 (2 copies); The Dream, [1922] (2 copies); Melloney Holtspur, 1922 (2 copies); Selected Poems, 1922; The Taking of Helen, 1923, dust-jacket; A King's Daughter, 1923, dust-jacket; Collected Poems, 1923, inscribed with couplet, dust-jacket; Sard Harker, 1924, dust-jacket; With the Living Voice, 1925, copy 1, dust-jacket; The Trial of Jesus, 1925, (2 copies, one copy in dust-jacket); Odtaa, 1926 (2 copies); Philip the King, 1927, dust-jacket, slipcase; Tristan and Isolt, 1927, (3 copies, one copy in dust-jacket); The Midnight Folk, 1927; The Coming of Christ, 1928; Midsummer Night, [1928]; Easter, [1929], dust-jacket; The Hawbucks, 1929; Minnie Maylow's Story, 1931; Poetry, [1931]; End and Beginning, 1933, acetate dust-jacket, slipcase; The Bird of Dawning, 1933; The Taking of the Gry, 1934; Victorious Troy, 1936 (2 copies, one copy in slipcase); Eggs and Baker, 1936; Lines Spoken... at the Tercentenary of Harvard University, 1937, glassine dust-jacket; Shopping in Oxford, 1941; all Heinemann, 8vo, original bindings



numbered and signed american editions of: Sonnets, 1916, presentation copies inscribed by the author (2 copies); Rosas, 1918; Rosas, 1918, un-numbered edition; The Dream, 1922; The Taking of Helen, 1923; Philip the King, 1927, collector's slipcase; The Midnight Folk, 1927; The Coming of Christ, 1928; Minnie Maylow's Story, 1931; all New York: Macmillan, 8vo, original bindings



privately printed editions including: Animula, 1920, presentation copy inscribed by the author, original wrappers; [Words Spoken at the Unveiling of the Memorials to... John Keats and Percy Shelley], [1954], presentation copy titled and inscribed by the author, original wrappers; An Elizabethan Theatre in London, [1955], presentation copy inscribed by the author, original wrappers; The Western Hudson Shore. 1962, inscribed "Crocker "Crick" Wight", original wrappers



first english editions in dust-jackets of: A Tarpaulin Muster. Richards, 1907, some loss; Martin Hyde. Wells Gardner, Darton and Co., 1910, frayed at extremities; Dauber. Heinemann, 1913; Philip the King. Heinemann, 1914; Lollingdon Downs, 1917; Sard Harker. Heinemann, 1924; The Bird of Dawning, Heinemann, 1933; The Taking of the Gry, Heinemann, 1934; Victorious Troy. Heinemann, 1935, price-clipped; Eggs and Baker. Heinemann, 1936; The Square Peg. Heinemann, 1937; together with numerous others, all 8vo, original bindings



Other volumes include: A Mainsail Haul. Mathews, 1905, frontispiece by Jack B. Yeats; The Tragedy of Nan and other plays. Richards, 1910, reprint, signed "Marie O'Neill | 16 Aug 1910 | Abbey Theatre, | Dublin"; Dauber. Heinemann, 1913, presentation copy inscribed by the author ("Edmund Gosse | from | John Masefield. | 2nd May. 1913") together with autograph letter signed; Philip the King and other poems. Heinemann, 1914, second impression, autograph letter signed to Sir Herbert Warren tipped-in; Reynard the Fox. Heinemann, 1921, illustrations by G.D. Armour, presentation copy inscribed by the author, dust-jacket; Selected Poems. Heinemann, 1923, presentation copy inscribed by the author, dust-jacket; Melloney Holtspur. Heinemann, 1923, presentation copy inscribed by the author, dust-jacket; The Midnight Folk. Heinemann, 1927, dust-jacket; South and East. Medici, 1929, illustrations by Jacynth Parsons, number 200 of 260 copies; A Tale of Troy. New York: Macmillan, 1932, presentation copy inscribed by the author; The Box of Delights. Heinemann, 1935, first edition; Dead Ned. Heinemann, 1938, presentation copy from C.S. Evans to Edith Pargeter, dust-jacket; The Country Scene. New York: Collins, 1938; Basilissa. Heinemann, 1940, naomi mitchison's copy, autograph letters signed tipped-in; St. Katherine of Ledbury. Heinemann, 1951, presentation copy inscribed by the author, autograph letter signed loosely inserted; all 8vo, original bindings



Together with numerous books edited or with contributions, including: Reynolds, J.H. The Fancy. Mathews, [1905], illustrations by Jack B. Yeats, original cloth, slightly worn--Lubbock, B. Adventures by Sea from Art of Old Time. The Studio, 1925, number 342 of 1750 copies, original cloth--Wilson, D. et al. Trade Winds. Sheffield: United Steel Companies Limited, 1948, number 1 of 150 copies signed by illustrators and author, original cloth-backed boards--Ching, Chau Wah et al. Edmund Blunden Sixty-Five. Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong, 1961, presentation copy from blunden, dust-jacket



c.350 volumes, mostly original bindings, occasional spotting and browning, some bindings worn

George B.T. Smith was born in the North East of Scotland. Following education in Aberdeen, where he studied Civil Engineering, he saw service in the Royal Engineers and then worked in road and bridge design and construction. On retirement he worked for a number of years with Shelter. Assistant editor of The Journal of The John Masefield Society, he delivered the second Annual Lecture for The John Masefield Society on the author’s sonnets (published 1996) and has privately printed a monograph on Masefield dust-jackets.