Ralph Chubb, Woodcuts ( Andrew Block, 1928). One of 200 copies. Small 4to. Original lilac marbled boards. Slightly marked, but a nice copy. £5.00. Today £200 +
There has been a revival of interest in this poet and illustrator in recent years. Back in the early seventies he was hardly known beyond a select circle of admirers, hence the low price. Chubb ( 1892 – 1960), like his contemporary E. E. Bradford, a parish priest in the Fens, is now a gay icon whose extraordinary life and celebration of ‘ lads love ‘ has attracted many to his work, which has echoes of William Blake, though his verse is nothing like as inspiring. Chubb’s home in Berkshire is still there and the shed in which he printed his books and pamphlets also remains. See a previous Jot for a fuller account of his life and work. It is unlikely that there will ever be a blue plaque to him somewhere in his native Harpenden.
A. E. Coppard, Silver Circus (Cape, 1928) Special edition of 125 copies on hand-made paper, signed by the author, bound in full velum with a green leather lettering piece, gilt. Fine copy of this scarce book. £10.00. Today £200 +
A hundred years ago, at the advent of the craze for modern first editions, Coppard was King of the Pile. Articles were written on him and his rather enigmatic short stories. Most of his books seemed to be printed in tasteful ‘ special editions ‘. All the experts agreed that here was an author worth investing in. Though his reputation waned somewhat in the late ‘thirties, he was still admired in the late sixties, when some of his short stories were televised. Fast forward to the noughties and Gen Z has blank faces at the mention of his name. Still, for all this, he is still arguably the most famous person to hail from Folkestone.
Note: Sims offered five other copies of Coppard titles, nearly all ‘ special ‘ editions, priced at between £7.00 and £15.00. Don’t expect them to rise much in value in the future, though.
Frances Cornford, Travelling Home and other poems. Illustrated by Christopher Cornford. ( Cresset Press, 1948) . First edition. Fine in d.w. £1.50. Today £20
Baron Corvo, “ Lytel Seynt Hew”. Contained in The Universal Review edited by Harry Quilter, September- December 1888. Pp 585 -591 contain this poem by the “Rev. Frederick Rolph”, each page being decorated by one of his drawings. Thick 4to, original red cloth, gilt. £12.50.
C. Day Lewis, Ten Singers. An Anthology. Fortune & Merriman, 1925. First edition. The Poet Laureate’s first publication—a scarce anthology published in the early days of the Fortune Press. Printed on hand-made paper and bound in hand-made paper wrappers. Fine Copy. £7.50. Today £ 25.
Allen and Patricia Ahearn in their pioneering Book Collecting 2000 state that Day Lewis’s first publication was the wonderfully-named Beechen Vigil—another privately printed volume which ( it is said ) the poet sold in Oxford by personally offering it to bookshops or hawking it in the streets for 2s. 6d. However, Ten Singers was published in the same year, but possibly a few weeks before. The Ahearns valued Beechen Vigil at $600 in 2000. Today it can be bought for £150
Charles Dickens, Sketches by Boz. Set of proof illustrations by George Cruikshank for the John Macrine edition of 1836. The 38 plates mounted on small 4to sheets and bound in three-quarter dark green morocco by Tout. £40.00
Sets of proof illustrations are generally rare, but occasionally to be found. In this case such illustrations by a genius for the second book of another genius make the item particularly attractive.
Sims also lists for £5 a 1895 reprint of Dickens’ Gads Hill Gazette, which was written and privately printed by him in 1865. Any true Dickensian would be glad to possess such a literary morceaux.
Lord Alfred Douglas, Poems ( Paris, published by the Mercure de France, 1896. First edition. Copy no. 19 of 20 on “ hollande”. Presentation copy inscribed by the author on the verso of the half-title: “ Edward Strangman from the Author. Alfred Douglas. June 1897. Paris” Douglas’s meeting with Strangman in Paris in June 1897 was at Wilde’s express wish and in an unpublished letter to Douglas ( dated 22 July 1897) Douglas told Strangman that their two or three days together had been “ among the very few really happy & light-hearted days that I have had since the terrible catastrophe “. Original wrappers. Preserved in half-green morocco folding box by Sangorski. £100. Today unavailable.
Sims offered four further Douglas items, two of which were presentation copies, one to Strangman and the other to his own wife, Olive Custance.
Lawrence Durrell, Panic Spring, a romance by Charles Nordern. Faber, 19937. First edition. Presentation copy inscribed by Durrell on a map “Ile de Corfou”. To Mrs Holdsworth with all good wishes this tardy copy of Panic Spring. Charles Nordern…1937… Map of Black Daphne “. An extremely rare book. The original red cloth is a good deal marked and worn. A bookseller’s label has been clumsily removed from the rear end-paper. £115. Today £250 – £2,000.
R. M. Healey
Thanks for this enjoyable piece. One minor cavil, though: as Folkestone folk go, I think William Harvey is better known than A.E. Coppard! And the price of US$748,250 achieved for his “… de motu cordis…” in 2001 perhaps testifies to this.