The Arctic Ox

London: Faber and Faber, (1964). First edition. One of 1500 copies printed. No equivalent American edition was produced. Abbott A23. Presentation copy, inscribed by Moore to Elizabeth Mayer on the front free endpaper: "For dear [underscored] Elizabeth Mayer / teaching me encouraging me from / her ever grateful protegée / Marianne / 1964 and 5 [sic] April 13, 1965". Moore and Mayer collaborated on translating into English Stifter's Rock Crystal, A Christmas Tale, published in 1945. Mayer (1884-1970) was a German-born American translator and editor who associated closely with Auden, Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, and other writers and musicians. After the Nazis came to power Mayer and her psychiatrist husband, William, emigrated to the United States. Mayer's homes in New York City and on Long Island served as artistic salons for many émigré writers in the 1940s. With Auden Mayer translated Goethe's Italian Journey into English (1962). Mayer and Louise Bogan collaborated on translations into English of Ernst Jünger's The Glass Bees (1961), Goethe's Elective Affinities (1963), and The Sorrows of Young Werther and Novella. Auden held Mayer in high regard and the two were close for many years. Auden's "New Year Letter" is dedicated to her as is his The Double Man (1941). Light offsetting from binding adhesive on rear free endpaper otherwise a very fine copy in jacket. 8vo, original cloth, dust jacket. Light offsetting from binding adhesive on rear free endpaper otherwise a very fine copy in jacket.