42 ELIOT, T. S. The Waste Land. Richmond: printed and published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, 1923 To Argentina’s first lady of letters First UK edition in book form, sole impression, one of about 460 copies hand-printed by the Woolfs, this copy inscribed on the title page with a superb association, “Inscribed for Madame Victoria Ocampo by T. S. Eliot, London 17.xii.47”. Eliot has also hand-corrected a line on p. 7, “A crowd flowed under* London Bridge”, below as, “over. A singular misprint. T.S.E.”. This copy is a new discovery, having come from a private literature collection in South America. Madame Victoria Ocampo (1890–1979), “Argentina’s first lady of letters and patroness of the arts and culture”, was an influential author, salon host, and editor based in Buenos Aires whose global reach and literary networks placed her in contact with leading writers and artists internationally throughout the 20th century (Bergmann, p. 130). In 1931 Ocampo founded Sur , a literary magazine intended to connect South American authors with their literary fellows in North American and Europe. The magazine, which became the longest-lived in South America, featured the works of writers such as Jorge Luis Borges, Ortega y Gasset, and Octavio Paz. It was expanded into a publishing house in 1933, printing works by writers such as Virginia Woolf, Albert Camus, and Aldous Huxley. Eliot and Ocampo were first introduced via letter by Sylvia Beach in 1931, who described Ocampo as “the most influential woman in Buenos Aires and the most charming one” ( Letters of T. S. Eliot ). Eliot later took claim for being an early supporter of Ocampo’s work: “I would be glad to be recorded as one who recognized the place occupied by Victoria Ocampo in the literary world … I know the distinction of Sur and have had the pleasure of meeting Victoria Ocampo on several occasions when she visited this country. I am glad to place myself on record as one of those who recognized her international services to literature” (Eliot, Tribute to Victoria Ocampo , 1962). Eliot first appeared in Sur in 1937 when Ocampo published a translation of his Rhapsody of a Windy Night . This copy was inscribed at the end of Ocampo’s visit to Europe in 1947, dated just two days before her departure. During her visit she co-ordinated the production of a “British” issue of Sur , encased in Union Jack wrappers and featuring the works of Graham Greene, Christopher Isherwood, George Orwell, and, crucially, T. S. Eliot. A fragment of his Little Gidding was included in the magazine with the Spanish translation printed in parallel. The condition of this work, though now professionally repaired, is in keeping with Ocampo’s self-proclaimed reading habits, writing in De la cartilla al libro (“From Notebook to Book”) (1959) that: “No tengo sino libros que leo, marco con lápiz y acaban medio desencuadernados si los frecuento demasiado” (“I only own books that I read, mark with pencil, and that end up with broken spines because I read them so much”). The Waste Land was originally published in the first issue of The Criterion , the quarterly review which Eliot edited, in October 1922, and subsequently in book form in New York on 15 December 1922 by Boni & Liveright. This Hogarth edition, however, was the one which Eliot used for his presentation copies, and is preferred in that respect. This copy has the title label in the first state with asterisks (one of three states noted by Gallup, with no priority). Octavo. Original marbled blue paper boards, white paper title label to front board printed in black, untrimmed. Small hand-numbered private library label to front pastedown. Spine professionally repaired, light wear and fading around board edges, some mottling to title label, some worming
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to rear board and a few rear leaves now professionally filled in, text unaffected, foxing within. An acceptable copy. ¶ Gallup A6c; Woolmer 28. £65,000 [158544] 43 ELIOT, T. S. The Cocktail Party. London: Faber and Faber Ltd, 1950 Inscribed before publication to the distinguished Jesuit priest and theologian, Father Martin D’Arcy First edition, first impression, presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper “to the Ven. M. C. D’Arcy with the author’s compliments T. S. Eliot 6.iii.50”, three days before publication. Martin D’Arcy (1888–1976) was a Jesuit priest and theologian, famed for his charisma as a lecturer. As one of the most well- known and eloquent English Roman Catholics, he received many prominent people into the church, including Evelyn Waugh. Richard Harp in “A Conjuror at the Xmas Party” (see TLS , 11 December 2009) called D’Arcy “perhaps England’s foremost Catholic public intellectual from the 1930s until his death”. Eliot persuaded D’Arcy to provide a number of reviews for The Criterion . Indeed, in 1937, D’Arcy was the top of a list of reviewers that Eliot compiled, noting that they “may have carte blanche” in their choice of books for review. Eliot and D’Arcy were regular correspondents from the 1930s and D’Arcy’s major work, The Mind and Heart of Love , was published by Faber and Faber in 1945. Octavo. Original green cloth, spine lettered in gilt. With dust jacket. State with “here” for “her” on p. 29, no priority. Slight leaning to spine, minor fading to top corner of rear cover, minor creases to front free endpaper, minor surface abrasions to front pastedown; a near-fine and bright copy. Spine of dust jacket toned with a few creases, extremities slightly frayed; a very good and bright example. ¶ Gallup A55. £3,750 [150468]
All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
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