Eliot, T.S. | The Cocktail Party, presentation copy inscribed by the author

Eliot, T.S. 

The Cocktail Party. A Comedy. London: Faber and Faber, 1950

Publisher's green cloth gilt. Dust jacket; worn, with chips to head and foot of spine, detached at rear joint, light toning and creasing.

First edition, presentation copy from the author to Allen Tate: "To Allen Tate from T.S. Eliot 6 iii 50."

A remarkable association copy, bearing a pre-publication presentation inscription from T.S. Eliot to his American friend and admirer, poet and critic Allen Tate. The English edition was published on March 9, 1950, followed by the American edition on March 10, 1950.

Allen Tate (1899–1979) was a central figure in twentieth-century literary modernism. He met T.S. Eliot during a visit to England in the late 1920s. Best known for his poem Ode to the Confederate Dead and his critical essays on literature and culture, Tate shared a close intellectual connection with T.S. Eliot, whose fusion of modernist experimentation and respect for historical continuity deeply influenced Tate’s work. Eliot not only shaped Tate’s poetic style and critical thought but also helped advance his career by publishing his work in The Criterion, his literary journal, in July 1929.

The Cocktail Party is a verse drama exploring themes of human relationships, self-discovery, and spiritual redemption through the lens of a seemingly ordinary social gathering.

Including the noted error on page 29, line 1, where "here" is printed instead of "her."

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Gallup A55