2015 First Thus. Hardback. 8vo pp xx, 61. Limited edition no. 108 of 1750 numbered copies. Morocco backed decorated boards very good in slipcase. Frontis portrait, 9 lithographs and 6 letterpress vignettes by Ed Kluz. Slipcase with a lithograph label.
A selection of Rupert Brooke’s most famous poems, presented in a special limited edition to mark the centenary of his death.
Brooke is famous both for his evocation of Edwardian England in poems such as ‘The Old Vicarage, Grantchester’ and for the wide-eyed patriotism of his later poems that herald the coming conflict. He died aged 27, before this illusion of a just and heroic war was completely shattered, although his final poem suggests that he may have begun to reconsider his idealistic stance. This edition contains superb new lithographs that capture the vitality and beauty of his verse. Like so many others of his time, Rupert Brooke did not live to reach his full potential, but his haunting, often prescient poems testify to his dazzling command of words and the depth of his imagination.