Beschreibung:

SASSOON, Siegfried (1886-1967). The War Poems of Siegfried Sassoon . London: Richard Clay & Sons, Limited for William Heinemann, 1919. 8° (170 x 104mm). (Occasional light spotting.) Original red cloth, printed paper lettering-pieces on upper board and spine, dustwrapper (extremities lightly bumped, dustwrapper a little faded and marked, chipped at extremities, a few short tears). Provenance : Stephen Tennant (1906-1987, autograph presentation inscription from Sassoon on title 'Stephen from SS. Feb. 14. 1928'; his sale, Sotheby's West Sussex, 15 October 1987, lot 873) -- Simon Harcourt Nowell-Smith (1909-1996) and his wife Judith Adams Nowell-Smith (their respective booklabels). Exhibited : Oxford, Bodleian Library Wordsworth to Robert Graves and Beyond: Presentation and Association Copies from the Collection of Simon Nowell-Smith , November 1983-January 1984, no. 74. FIRST EDITION. PRESENTATION COPY TO STEPHEN TENNANT OF SASSOON'S 'TRACT AGAINST WAR' (Keynes). Sassoon met the artist and aesthete Stephen Tennant in late 1927 at Osbert Sitwell's house, and a relationship between the two men swiftly developed, despite their differing characters and circumstances -- Peter Quennell described it as 'a tremendous coup de foudre ... Sassoon was like the worthy vicar of a parish coming to town and meeting this great society beauty' (ODNB) while Edith Sitwell characterised the couple as 'the Old Earl and Little Lord Fauntleroy' ( loc . cit .). However, the deaths of Tennant's mother and nanny in 1928 and 1929 precipitated a mental crisis and Tennant became increasingly mentally ill, which began to undermine the relationship and contributed significantly to its end in 1932; this presentation inscription dates from the early months of what was to become one of Sassoon's most intense personal relationships. For three poems by Sassoon in the 'Ariel Poems' series illustrated by tennant, see lot 193. Keynes A20 (noting that 2,000 copies were printed).