- 3
Auden, W.H.
Estimate
800 - 1,200 GBP
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Description
- Auden, W.H.
- The Orators. An English Study. London: Faber and Faber, 1932
- Paper
8vo (222 x 141mm.), FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED BY AUDEN TO EDWARD UPWARD ("To Edward Upward | with best love | from | Wystan Auden | May 1932") on the front free endpaper, half-title, original black cloth, top edge dark blue, dust-jacket, spine slightly bumped and soiled at foot, dust-jacket with some minor tears at extremities
Provenance
The Library of Edward Upward
Literature
Bloomfield and Mendelson A3(a); Connolly 73
Condition
Condition is as described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
The Orators - like Poems - was published in a first edition of only 1,000 copies, and UPWARD WAS A KEY INSPIRATION IN ITS COMPOSITION. Auden dedicated the the third of the six odes which make up Book III to Upward, describing him not as a writer but as a "schoolmaster". The poem "refers implicitly to the fact that he and Auden were both having to earn their living as teachers in boarding schools - [Upward] guessed that it was influenced by his own short story 'The Colleagues', which Auden had read, and which talks in similar terms about the fate of schoolmasters: 'I shall be here or in places similar to this' says Upward's narrator, 'for the rest of my life'" (Carpenter, W.H.Auden: A Biography (1981), p.128).