READ, Herbert ~ Collected Poems 1913-1925.

FIRST UK PRINTING. Faber and Gwyer, London: 1926

8vo., brown cloth with printed paper label to spine; together in the plain dustwrapper, printed in black; priced 6s. net to spine; outer edge untrimmed; THE BOOK near-fine, mild pushing to spine tips and sunning to edges; the very good DUSTWRAPPER a touch browned along backstrip and folds; some minor chipping to upper edges of folds and spine; and a couple of dirt marks. A lovely example. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. First edition, first printing. This copy formerly in the personal collection of Vivien Noakes, with her name and date in her customary pencilled hand to the front fly-leaf. The first single-volume collected works of Herbert Read, the art historian, literary critic and existentialist philosopher who wrote, in his 1926 'What is a Poem' that "true poetry was never speech but always a song". Strongly influenced by mentors Marianne Moore and William Carlos Williams, Read wrote two volumes of poetry strongly influenced by his experiences during the First World War, entitled 'Songs of Chaos' (1915) and 'Naked Warriors' (1919). Dr Vivien Noakes was a leading authority on First World War poetry and the works of Edward Lear. Her PhD was dedicated to the poet and artist Isaac Rosenberg, and she was a member of the Oxford First World War Poetry Steering Committee, 'Voices of Silence'.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Near Fine
JACKET: Very Good