Books

London: Fortune Press, 1945. First Edition. One of fewer than 500 copies. Small octavo; black cloth lettered in gold; 36pp. Mark Schorer's copy with his attractive bookplate (Ruth & Mark Schorer) on front pastedown. Largely unopened, with trace foxing, bookplate glue showing through, trace foxing; Near Fine. Lacking the dustjacket. Mark Schorer was a leading critic (Sinclair Lewis and D. H. Lawrence) and writer and a contemporary of Larkin. He was for many years head of The English Dept. at U C Berkeley, and taught a course on modern British literature. Larkin's scarce first book. BLOOMFIELD A1a.

'The North Ship' is Larkin's first poetry collection, originally published in 1945 and including revised editions in the following years. It indicates the early exploration of his major themes and stylistic approach.