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41 ELIOT, T. S. Collected Poems 1909–1935. London: Faber and Faber, 1936 With the “compliments of possum” First edition, first impression, presentation copy, inscribed to Geoffrey and Polly Tandy on the front free endpaper, “to G. & Polly Tandy, Compts. of Possum 31.iii.36”, three days before publication. Eliot initially met Geoffrey Tandy (1900–1969), a writer, broadcaster and scientist who worked at the Natural History Museum, in a pub. As their friendship deepened, Eliot frequently visited the Tandys and they also kept up a regular correspondence. Tandy’s wife, Doris, was known as Polly. As evidence of a deepening friendship, Eliot became godparent to Alison Tandy, and later one of the dedicatees of Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats . Throughout the 1930s, the family would be the first audience on which Eliot tested out his poems, both in letters and on visits to the family’s Hampshire cottage. Eliot began writing poems about cats in around 1934, as presents for Alison Tandy and his other godchildren. Some were drafted in verse-form letters to the Tandys, and they feature the first appearance of characters such as Rumpleteazer and Old Deuteronomy. Eliot would address Polly affectionately as “Pollytandy” or “Pollitandy”, signing himself “Old Possum”, “Tom Possum”, “TP” or, as here, “Possum”. Geoffrey Tandy would be the first to present the cat poems to a wider public, as he read parts of Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats on BBC radio on the Christmas Day of 1937, two years before the book was published. Octavo. Original blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt, top edge red, other edges untrimmed. With supplied dust jacket. Extremities rubbed, slight staining at edges and foot of spine, occasional foxing, front inner hinge splitting, a very good copy. Extremities at top of dust jacket frayed, slight stain and one short tear to upper cover, spine faded, a good example. ¶ Gallup A32a. £6,750 [158072]
St Luke’s address added above). With three pen-and-ink and watercolour illustrations in the text, and a pencil sketch to the verso of p. 82, all by Ekwensi. Together with a copy of the first edition. Wrappers creased, short closed tears to edges, some creasing to margins, a few small marks to first and last few pages. In very good condition, remarkably well preserved. ¶ Ernest Emenyonu, Cyprian Ekwensi , 1974; Paul E. Schellinger, Encyclopedia of the Novel , 2014. £15,000 [152199] 40 EKWENSI, Cyprian. Beautiful Feathers. London: Hutchinson, 1963 Inscribed to an esteemed Nigerian civil servant First edition, first impression, inscribed by the author on the title page, “Stan, hope this will thrill & delight a devoted ‘servant’ of my country. Cyprian”. This is Ekwensi’s fifth novel: it is rare inscribed, and this is a particularly excellent association. The recipient is almost certainly Chief Stanley Olabode Wey (1923–2004), Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of the Federation of Nigeria at the time of publication, the first Nigerian to be appointed to the role. Ekwensi had a brief governmental career during the First Republic, becoming Director of the Ministry of Information in 1961, and both he and Wey were presented with respective awards for contributions to arts and culture and for public service to celebrate Nigeria’s Centenary in 2014. Octavo. Original pale green boards, spine lettered in green and blue. With dust jacket. Spine a little sunned, head of spine and corners bumped, single spot of foxing to front board and tiny mark to fore edge, endpapers, edges, and prelims lightly foxed. A very good copy indeed, clean and firm, in jacket, light foxing to verso, loss to head of spine and front panels, corners a little chipped, a few marks to rear panel with one short closed tear to head, edges a little nicked and rubbed, not price-clipped, very bright indeed. £1,500 [156516]
All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
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