Books

A near-fine copy bound in finely woven ribbed blue cloth stamped brightly in gold on the front boards and spine. With lovely giled medal design. Top edges gilded. With map endpapers. Very clean and tight throughout. Rear hinge separating along the bottom edge. With lovely illustrations/drawings tipped in throughout. In the original dust jacket with Hazlehurst's landscape illustration on the front panel. Separation along the front and rear folds and with several pieces of archival tape strengthening the verse of the spine folds.With light chipping along the top edges and some wear to the top and bottom of the spine ends with small chips. A splendid copy of the book in the scarce dust jacket with unprinted front and rear inside flaps. And with a list of 5 New Books by T Nelson and Sons on the rear panel. 'In Pursuit of Spring' was Thomas's last work of prose and provides an account of his week-long bicycle ride from central London out into the Quantock Hills in Somerset undertaken in March 1913. It is often considered the best of Thomas's country books, and mixes 'observation, information, stories, portraits, self-portraits, literary criticism, folk-tales, and reflection' (ODNB). Thomas had a very close relationship with Robert Frost.When Thomas and Frost met in London in 1913, neither had yet made his name as a poet. They became close,and each was vital to the other's success. But then Frost wrote 'The Road Not Taken', which was to drive Thomas off to war where he perished. He was killed on the first day of the battle of Arras, Easter 1917; he had survived little more than two months in France. Yet his personal war was never with a military opponent: it had been with his ravaging depression and with his struggle to find a literary expression through poetry that was worthy of his talents. And on the latter, at least, he won his battle. (Matthew Hollis) First Edition with "First Published April 1914" on the copyright page. First issue state with the artist's name spelt incorrectly on list of illustrations page.