Fifty New Poems For Children

Basil Blackwell, 1922. First Edition. Hardcover. Various : Fifty New Poems For Children. Oxford : Basil Blackwell, [1922]. First edition. 7 5/8"/20cm h. Bound in publisher's black paper boards; b&w pictorial paper pastedown to front board. Plain white endpapers. 63 numbered pp plus one wo numbers following. By my count actually fifty-two; index. Condition notes: boards heavily worn with some sunning, considerable tanning and staining to white front pastedown; spine pastedown removed (remnants still clinging); boards bent forward at spine creating a slightly curled appearance; joint worn through for one-plus inches, revealing internal fabric. Corners worn and bumped. Uncut edges show darkening. Modest foxing to endpapers; discreet gift inscription to front flyleaf; both pastedowns show ridging where spine/boards are bent; front flyleaf has remains of a since-removed sticker. Hinge beginning to separate pp 32-33. Pages show varying but generally minor tanning and staining throughout; other than gift inscription, no notes/writing observed. Notable for the inclusion of "Goblin Feet", by J.R.R. Tolkien or, here, "Tolkein". Not the first appearance of the poem (which first appeared in print in another Blackwell anthology 1915 (per Hammond and Anderson's Descriptive Bibliography), and subsequently, but this is the (undated) 1922 first edition of this volume, which had many reprints. An older, more critical Tolkien later disavowed the 23 year old Tolkien's "Goblin Feet" as an 'unhappy little thing'. The volume, as a whole, has delightful presentation, spacious, elegant, restrained. We personally inspect every book we offer.