ID 470308
Lot 248 | Robert Graves (1895-1985)
Estimate value
£ 1 500 – 2 000
Goliath and David. 1916
GRAVES, Robert (1895-1985). Goliath and David. London: [Privately printed for the author at the] Chiswick Press, [1916].
First edition of Graves’s second collection; one of 200 copies, this being a presentation copy inscribed by the author to Henry Ladd. Graves was hit by a German shell on 20 July 1916 and the next morning was erroneously reported to have died. This volume, largely composed during his convalescence, makes explicit reference to his brush with death: ‘”Life, life! I can’t be dead, I won’t be dead: / Damned if I’ll die for anyone,” I said’ (‘Escape’). The recipient of this copy, Henry Ladd, was a literary scholar to whom Graves referred in the text of his later work, Poetic Unreason: and Other Studies (pp.74-5). Higginson A2.
Quarto (185 x 142mm). (A few minor spots.) Original stiff red paper wrappers (tiny chips at spine ends, a few faint marks, lightly creased and faded at edges). Provenance: Henry Ladd (presentation inscription from the author to inside front wrapper: ‘Henry A. Ladd / from / Robert Graves / Boars Hill / 1921’).
| Place of origin: | Northern Europe |
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| Auction house category: | Books |
| Place of origin: | Northern Europe |
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| Auction house category: | Books |
| Address of auction |
CHRISTIE'S 8 King Street, St. James's SW1Y 6QT London United Kingdom | |
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| Phone | +44 (0)20 7839 9060 | |
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