Robert Graves | Goliath and David, London, [1916], first edition, inscribed by the author

Robert Graves

Goliath and David. London: privately printed for the author at the Chiswick Press, [1916]

FIRST EDITION, ONE OF 20O COPIES, INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR, 8vo, original wrappers, wrappers somewhat worn and split along backstrip

First edition of Graves' second publication—one of 200 copies. Inscribed by the author to a recipient understood to be one of the nurses who tended to his war wounds after he was severely injured at the front in 1916: "To Sister Bassett in gratitude, Robert Graves 1919". During the Battle of the Somme in 1916, Graves had been "so badly wounded in the lung that he was left for dead and was later able to read his own obituary in the Times" (ODNB). When he was found to be still alive, he was sent first to hospital in Rouen, then to Queen Alexandra's Hospital in London. During and after the time of publication of Goliath and David, which was printed in late 1916 and distributed in early 1917, Graves was therefore wracked with ill health, both physically and mentally, recuperating at Somerville College, Oxford, then at Harlech, his family's Welsh holiday home. Perhaps as a consequence of his weakened state, presentation copies from Graves himself are very rare.