Gerard Manley Hopkins
London: Dennis Dobson Ltd., 1949. First British edition. 12 mo. (7 1/2 inches tall), original gilt and blindstamped black cloth, original dust jacket. Mild spotting and tanning to preliminary leaves, slight edge-wear and toning to dust jacket. A near-fine copy. Item #776
"HOPKINS' CONSTANT TENSION, THE DESIRE TO BE AN ARTIST AND THE DESIRE TO BE A SAINT, WAS NECESSARY TO HIS ACHIEVEMENT AS A POET" (AUSTIN WARREN) First British edition of essays celebrating the centenary of the birth of Gerard Manley Hopkins, with a frontispiece photographic portrait of the young Hopkins. Commissioned by editor John Crowe Ransome, these essays originally appeared in the Kenyon Review, and were first published in American by New Directions (1945). The essays consist of: 1. Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1844-1889 (Austin Warren), 2. The Analogical Mirrors (Herbert Marshall McLuhan), 3. Sprung Rhythm (Harold Whitehall), 4. The Sweet and Lovely Language (Josephine Mills), 5. Instress of Inscape (Austin Warren), 6. Hopkins' Sanctity (Robert Lowell), 7. Victorian Hopkins (Arthur Mizener). The eighth and concluding essay, by F.R. Leavis, was removed from the volume after the printing. A printed label has been pasted over the Contents page: "Owing to copyright difficulties which arose after going to press, Dr. Leavis's Essay has had to be withdrawn from this collection" and the pagination skips from page 112 to page 131. A Bibliography in two parts (I. Gerard Manley Hopkins, II. Secondary Studies) and an Index follow the text. A New Directions postal label (signed, but not addressed, by contributor Austin Warren) is tipped to the front blank flyleaf over a smaller "Not for Sale" label. An interesting copy of valuable studies of Hopkins.
Price: $65.00