The Penguin Poets: Edith Sitwell 1952 Edition
EDITH SITWELL — A SELECTION BY THE AUTHOR
The Penguin Poets D16 | First Edition, 1952 | Vintage Penguin Paperback
A particularly attractive first-edition Penguin Poets volume featuring a selection of poetry personally chosen by Dame Edith Sitwell (1887–1964). Published by Penguin Books in May 1952, this is Penguin Poets D16, with the elegant period cover designed by the celebrated typographer and designer Jan Tschichold. Bibliographical records confirm the first publication date, D16 series number, 134-page extent, Unwin Brothers printing and original price of 2 shillings and 6 pence.
About Edith Sitwell
Edith Sitwell was one of the most distinctive voices in twentieth-century British poetry. Known for her experimentation with rhythm, sound and imagery, she was also a formidable literary critic and a striking figure in British cultural life.
This volume is especially interesting because the poems were selected by Sitwell herself, offering a personal overview of her work rather than a collection assembled later by an editor.
The selection includes some of her best-known writing, including “Still Falls the Rain,” “The Canticle of the Rose,” “The Shadow of Cain,” “Dirge for the New Sunrise,” “The Coat of Fire,” “Heart and Mind,” “Green Song” and other poems. It also opens with Sitwell’s fascinating essay “Some Notes on My Own Poetry,” in which she discusses the development of her verse, particularly her approach to rhythm, imagery and poetic innovation.
Book Details
Author: Edith Sitwell
Title: Edith Sitwell: A Selection by the Author
Series: The Penguin Poets
Series Number: D16
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
First Published: May 1952
Edition: First Edition / First Penguin printing
Printer: Unwin Brothers Ltd., Woking and London
Cover Design: Jan Tschichold
Format: Vintage paperback
Pages: 134 pages, plus preliminary material
Size: Approx. 18 × 11 cm
Original Price: 2 shillings and 6 pence (2/6)
Printed in: Great Britain
Language: English
Genre: Poetry / Modernist Poetry / British Literature
Why This Edition Is Collectible
This isn’t simply a later vintage reprint. The publication statement in your photograph reads “First published in Penguin Books 1952,” and bibliographical listings identify the 1952 D16 issue as the first edition of this Penguin selection.
The book is also an appealing piece of early Penguin design history. Jan Tschichold’s restrained green ornamental border and classic typography are characteristic of Penguin’s beautifully considered post-war book design. Combined with the fact that Sitwell herself chose the poems, it makes this a lovely collectible for admirers of Penguin Books, twentieth-century poetry and vintage graphic design.
Condition
Vintage pre-owned condition with visible age-related wear. The photographed copy shows rubbing and wear to the covers, edges and corners, together with some creasing, marks and general surface ageing. The pages have developed the warm toning expected of a paperback now more than 70 years old, with occasional spotting visible.
The binding and contents appear intact from the photographs. The wonderfully understated original Penguin cover remains particularly attractive. Please refer to all photographs for the exact condition of this individual copy.
Why We Love It at Owl Books
This little Penguin has everything we love about vintage books: literary importance, beautiful typography, signs of a long reading life and a genuine connection to its period.
More than seventy years after publication, its understated 1950s Penguin design remains remarkably elegant. And because the selection was made by Edith Sitwell herself, it provides an especially personal introduction to one of Britain’s most individual modern poets.