The Hound of Heaven
New York: Printed for Private Circulation, 1914. Limited edition. Octavo (8 3/4 inches tall), original patterned paper boards, original printed and ruled paper label to front board, gilt vellum spine, uncut, 12 pages. Minor toning and soiling to boards. About Fine. Item #1775
"ALL WHICH THY CHILD'S MISTAKE / FANCIES AS LOST, I HAVE STORED FOR THEE AT HOME / RISE, CLASP MY HAND, AND COME"
Fine Press edition of Francis Thompson's The Hound of Heaven—printed on watermarked paper with red-ruled text by Carl Purington Rollins at the Montague Press. A most elegant edition, commissioned by Hubert Rutherford Brown, apparently for distribution as a Christmas keepsake. A lovely gift for a Catholic Convert.
First printed in 1890, The Hound of Heaven is an enduring favorite, assuring Francis Thompson's "great fame as a rare and gifted poet" on a relatively meager literary output ("three slender books of poetry, the superb Essay on Shelley, and his Life of St. Ignatius"). "Although Thompson was a cradle Catholic, the poem, with its potent and poignant depiction of a reluctant soul's final acceptance of God's relentless and fathomless love, remains a classic of conversion literature" (Joseph Pearce). Evoking Thompson's wayward years on the streets of London, the poem's "spirit is not that of the Prodigal Son parable of the Gospels, but rather that of the parable of the Good Shepherd" (Calvert Alexander).
The Foreword, which reprints part of a lecture given by Dr. John Kelman at Edinburgh University, agrees: "the parts here are reversed, and instead of the soul seeking the Higher, the Highest is out in full cry after the soul. The Good Shepherd seeketh the lost sheep until He find it. He is found of those that sought Him not." Joseph Pearce. Catholic Literary Giants: A Field Guide to the Catholic Literary Landscape; Calvert Alexander. The Catholic Literary Revival: Three phases in its development from 1845 to the present.
Price: $200.00