B1.1 OXFORD POETRY 1917 1917

OXFORD POETRY | 1917 | EDITED BY | W. R. C., T. W. E., AND D. L. S. | OXFORD | B. H. BLACKWELL, BROAD STREET | 1917

Collation: [1]8 2 - 48 , 32 leaves.

p. [i] title-page; p. [ii] [single rule rectangular box, within which publisher’s advertisements] | NEW YORK AGENTS | LONGMANS, GREEN & CO., FOURTH AVENUE | AND THIRTIETH STREET; pp. iii-iv CONTENTS; pp. 1-59 [60] text.

19.5 × 12.5 cm. Bulk: 0.5 cm. White wove paper; all edges untrimmed. Bound in heavy dark blue paper covers. Back blank; front has rectangular white label printed in blue: [single rule rectangular box enclosing all:] Oxford | Poetry | 1917 | [leaf] | OXFORD | BLACKWELL; spine has rectangular white label printed in blue: [from bottom to top:] [rule] Oxford Poetry 1917 [rule]

Price: 2s. 6d. hardbound, 1s. 3d. paper wrappers. Number of copies: 1,000. Published 11 March 1918.

Notes: Graves’s contribution is ‘Double Red Daisies’ and ‘Dead Cow Farm’ (pp. 24-25); both poems appeared in Fairies and Fusiliers (A3). Here, ‘Double Red Daisies’ shows minor spelling and punctuation variations from its appearance in A3. ‘Dead Cow Farm’ has a variant reading of the first line, rendered here as “It’s told in those old sagas, how”. The standard reading of this line is: “An ancient saga tells us how”. This seems to be the only publication of this earlier version of the poem. Fairies and Fusiliers and Oxford Poetry 1917 were published within days of each other.

The editors, identified only by their initials on the title-page, are W.R. Childe, T. W. Earp, and Dorothy L. Sayers. Printed by Billing and Sons, Ltd., Printers, Guildford, England.

A second impression of this book was published in 1918, both hardbound and in paper covers.

This book was distributed in the United States by Longmans, Green and Co. Prices in the United States for the second impression: $0.50 in paper covers; $0.90 in boards.

References: Mason/1988; Gilbert.