Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Housman, A. E.. Last Poems. Alcuin Press, Chipping Camden, 1929.
Price: US$85.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Chipping Camden, Gloucest: Alcuin Press, 1929. Large 8vo. 67[1]pp, including Housman's Preface to the first edition, all printed in red and black by H.P.R. Finberg. Natural linen back & faint green paper boards, paper spine label, spare label in rear. Miniscule wear, small light stain on spine, interior fine. Henry Sotheran Ltd bookseller sticker on front pastedown. Mylar jacket has slight wear. Penciled note on the rear blank by Alcuin Press notes that this edition is limited to "325 copies printed on handmade paper, original holland backed boards uncut". ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 68 pages
Seller: Dale A. Sorenson, Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.
Price: US$544.84 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: TWO MATCHING VOLUMES IN THEIR ORIGINAL BINDINGS- ONE OF OF ONLY 300 SETS - BEAUTIFUL COPIES IN A PLAIN CARD BOX { delivery box? } : Printed at The Alcuin Press, in 1929. The First named is numbered 176 and was published by The Richards Press Limited; the Second named, states that it was printed by H.P.R.Finberg at the Alcuin Press, 1929. Three hundred and twenty five copies of this edition of which three hundred are for sale.'A Shropshire Lad' was first published in 1896. This edition is published in 1929." - Colophon. Mould-made paper with hammer and anvil watermark. 91 pages 25 cm. Copies are rarely found together in the original Plain boards with cloth spine and overlay. Last Poems : 67 pages, 25cm. Both with original paper title labels, with two spares laid in at the rear of each volume. Finberg worked with Basil Blackwell and Bernard Newdigate at the Shakespeare Head Press before setting up his own press, the Alcuin, in a barn in Chipping Campden. Printed in Black and Red. Private Press books such as these are always keenly sought after. NB: PLEASE DO REQUEST MORE IMAGES
Seller: BiblioFile, Cadole, FLINT, United Kingdom
A. E. Housman. A Shropshire Lad and Last Poems. Alcuin Press, Chipping Campden, 1929.
Price: US$595.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Hardcover. Condition: Very Good+. Limited Edition. Two volumes: One of 300 copies (325 printed) made available for sale : Printed at The Alcuin Press in 1929. Private press books. This copy is No. 91. Published by The Richards Press Limited; The Last Poems volume states that it was printed by H.P.R. Finberg at the Alcuin Press, 1929. A Shropshire Lad, 91 pp. and Last Poems, 67 pp. Both have original paper title labels and spare title labels laid in at the rear of each volume. Each volume has some soiling to the boards. Top edge and area of near cloth spine are faded on front board of A Shropshire Lad. Clean interior for each. Printed in red and black. Binding of each is tight and square. Carl J. Weber in the Colby College "Jubilee Edition wrote, "This is certainly the most beautiful piece of press work among all Shropshire editions." Rare when found together in original plain boards with cloth spine.
Seller: EGR Books, Centreville, VA, U.S.A.
Price: US$599.99 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: A Shropshire Lad and Last Poems (Limited Edition slipcase 2 volume set) by A. E. Housman: Published by Alcuin Press, Chipping Campden, Gloucester, 1929. From the collection of noted Housman collector P.B.Morris (his name stamp on 1st blank pages). One of 300 copies (325 printed) made available for sale. "A Shropshire Lad" numbered 268. Private press books. Published by The Richards Press Limited; The Last Poems volume states that it was printed by H.P.R. Finberg at the Alcuin Press, 1929. A Shropshire Lad, 91 pp. and Last Poems, 67 pp. Printed in red and black. matching binding, gray hardcover with oatmeal cloth spine. "some darkening to spine cloth,cover spots, books inside are near fine; slipcase has some wear and tape repair"
Seller: Sheapast Art and Books, Sherman Oaks, CA, U.S.A.
A. E. Housman. A Shropshire Lad and Last Poems. The Alcuin Press / The Richards Press, 1929.
Price: US$1217.89 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: A rare example of this edition being bound as a single volume. Although it is usually seen as a pair of books, it is clear that this copy was singly bound on production as the paper used in this volume for the pastedowns and endpapers, has the same watermarking as the paper used for the text printing. Limited to 325 copies, of which this is number 55. Full morocco binding with raised bands and gilt titles to spine. Spine slightly scuffed and slightly sunned and with the odd minor scuffing to the boards. Binding tight. Gilt to upper edges; rough cut to lower edges. Faint pencil impressions to ffep. A couple of faint marks to the fifth blank, possibly faint glue marks, with a similar heavier mark to p59. Contents very bright with only the odd minor spot. A Shropshire Lad: 91pp, directly followed by Last Poems 67pp. Printed at the Alcuin Press (Chipping Campden) and published for the Press by the Richards Press, London. 1929. Further information available on request. (Ud5)
Seller: Morning Mist Books and Maps, Cirencester, United Kingdom
Price: US$1922.98 + shipping
Description: First Alcuin Press edition, number 159 of 325 copies, this one of a handful issued in the publisher's deluxe single-volume binding; almost all copies were issued in two cloth-backed volumes. Housman refused the publisher Herbert Patrick Reginald Finberg's request to issue a deluxe version in a single leather-bound volume, writing to him on 1 February 1929: "Unless I change my mind, A Shropshire Lad and Last Poems will not be published in one volume during my lifetime" (Housman, pp. 109-10). Nonetheless Finberg persevered in secret and, according to Naiditch, at least four copies were thus bound. This was the first edition comprising what were then Housman's complete published works (More Poems being published only after his death in 1936). A. E. Housman, The Letters of A. E. Housman, Vol. II, 2007. 2 volumes in 1, octavo. Original light brown morocco, spine with raised bands, gilt lettering in compartments, top edge gilt. Text printed in red and black. Some discolouration and minor marks to covers, contents clean and fresh. A very good copy indeed.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Price: US$3204.97 + shipping
Description: First Alcuin Press edition, one of 325 sets, this copy is out-of-series, inscribed "specially for Graham and Vivienne Greene, from the printer of the book" on the limitation page, and with author Graham Greene's wife library label to the front pastedown. This was the first edition comprising what were then Housman's complete published works (More Poems being published only after his death in 1936). Almost all sets were issued in two cloth-backed volumes. Housman refused the publisher H. P. R. Finberg's request to issue a deluxe version in a single leather-bound volume, writing to him on 1 February 1929: "Unless I change my mind, A Shropshire Lad and Last Poems will not be published in one volume during my lifetime." Nonetheless Finberg persevered in secret and, according to Naiditch, at least four copies were thus bound. This copy has a presentation inscription on the front free endpaper, "Laurence Gallichan, 1929, H.P.", most likely by Finberg himself. Two volumes in one, octavo. Original brown buckram, spine lettered in gilt, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Printed in red and black. Extremities a little rubbed, a touch of bubbling and foxing to boards, the binding otherwise sound, light spotting to edges, else internally crisp; a very nice copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Price: US$9375.00 + shipping
Description: Publisher's pigskin leather (6-1/4" x 9-3/4") with gilt-lettered spine, printed in red and black on Batchelor hand-made paper. One of a small number with both books bound together by the publisher. Nearly all copies, while published simultaneously, were bound separately in cloth-backed boards as Housman did not want both books published in one volume. The publisher, H. P. R. Finberg, secretly had a handful bound as this copy, which is #3 of only 325 printed. What makes this an especially interesting example is its provenance and that it is SIGNED by Housman on the blank before the title page. This copy was owned by the author's brother, Laurence Housman, which likely explains the author's willingness to sign it. Laurence Housman then gave this copy to the actor and collector Vincent Price when Price was acting in Housman's play VICTORIA REGINA in 1935. Price then passed the book on to his son, who gave it to a friend. The book bears the ownership signature and notation "mcmxxxi Oxon" on the front endpaper of Smithsonian curator and book collector, Allison de la Rue who was studying at Oxford at the time of publication. The sequence of ownership between de la Rue and Laurence Housman is unclear. Included with the book is a photocopy of a note by Vincent Price stating that he received the book from Laurence Housman and presenting the book to his son. Also included are two programs for the play VICTORIA REGINA, one starring Helen Hayes, Vincent Price, and Abraham Sofaer, and the other replacing Price with Werner Bateman. The latter program is SIGNED by Hayes and Sofaer. Finally, there is a photocopy of an article by William White, "Book Collecting on a Professor's Salary," from Volume 6, #3 of THE PRIVATE LIBRARY, July 1965, that discusses the publishing history of this title and a handwritten note by the last owner of the book dated 2000 describing how he acquired the book from Price's son and his assessment of the book's travels. Contents bright and fresh. Dark stain to the spine extending a bit to the front cover; about a 1/4" chip to the head of the spine just slightly affecting the lettering. Very Good and possibly unique
Seller: Charles Agvent, est. 1987, ABAA, ILAB, Fleetwood, PA, U.S.A.