A Thing To Be Explained

Laurence Housman

Verlag: Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1928

Beschreibung

This is a rather rare book. There are only a few others for sale. This one, very clearly, is in the best condition, as the others have considerable loss at the spine. The spine on this copy has one small loss on the front side of the spine 3/4s of the way down, and a very tiny loss at the bottom of the spine. There are also two tiny tears with no loss (See 2nd photo of the spine). As you can see from the photographs, the covers are rather clean. There's very little wear other than what I just referenced. There's a speck-sized spot of rub-through at one of the bottom corners. The edges are free of any wear. There's a light bump/crease at the bottom right corner of the front cover, and very light creases at the two corners of the rear cover. The interior of the book is in very nice condition. The book is very solidly bound, no issues in that regard. The pages are very clean. I saw only one fingerprinty spot on one page. The title page has a bit of very light darkening near its middle edge, a mild reaction to the color frontispiece it opposes. The frontispiece appears to be in perfect condition. The illustrations are by C.T. Nightingale. Beside the color frontispiece there are five full-page black-and-white woodcut illustrations with captions. They are quite interesting and in excellent condition. There are 29 pages in the book. On the blank first front end paper a previous owner has penciled the name of his town and the date 'July 1928'. I've dated it based on that. It is possible that it was published earlier. No one has written their name in the book. And there is no writing anywhere in the book, other than what I just referenced. There are a few light creases, nothing significant. There are no dogeared corners There are no tears. There are no markings or attachments. Given its superior condition, I've priced this book quite conservatively. From an article in 1957: 'Mr Laurence Housman once thought he would not live beyond his lucky number of 67. Aged 92 today, he has now completed with obvious relish a quarter of a century of what he has called "the unexpected years." In his self-allotted span, he had already made a well-earned reputation as a rebel against convention, not as a rebel who is always looking for trouble like the legendary Irishman, but as one more like his great hero Saint Francis of Assisi, whose rebellions grew out of his refusal to compromise. Housman began his artistic life as an illustrator and as an author- he was art critic for the "Manchester Guardian" for a time- by making "rather a cult of being much more interested in things of the past than of the present." He credits a speech by Mrs Pankhurst (woman?s suffrage became one of his great causes ) for discovering in himself "that most uncomfortable thing, a social conscience." This undoubtedly helped him as an artist, if only to save him from remaining a Pre-Raphaelite rather out of touch with his own period. Housman once said he would far rather not have had a social conscience, but once Mrs Pankhurst discovered it for him, there were no half-measures. So successful did he become at not compromising, particularly in subjects such as royalty and religion in which the conventions are strictest, that at one time he had 32 of his plays refused a license, a rebel?s record of which he is obviously still very proud. He once urged that the troops on Armistice Day should parade without arms as an expression of the nation?s will to peace.'.

Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 001590

Bibliografische Details

• Titel: A Thing To Be Explained
• Verlag: Basil Blackwell, Oxford
• Erscheinungsjahr: 1928
• Einband: Hardcover
• Illustrator: C.T. Nightingale
• Zustand: Very Good
• Verkäuferkataloge:
  • Philosophy