John Drinkwater — Cotswold Characters

New Haven, Yale University Press, 1921. First edition. Hardback. A lovely collection of sketches on local characters within the Cotswolds written by the talented Dymock poet John Drinkwater. The first edition of Cotswold Characters, a collection of five charming sketches of fictional figures from the West Country region, written by English poet and writer John Drinkwater. In the publisher's original brown speckled paper boards, with all five in-text woodcuts by British surrealist painter and war artist Paul Nash. Nash first came to fame for his abstract depictions of the trenches a couple of years earlier, and would become a pioneer of English modernsim in art. As one of the Dymock poets, Drinkwater spent much of his life enjoying the Cotswold countryside, and this particular collection is an ode to the traditional village craftsmen and locals who dwell there, including Thesinger Crowne, the stone mason, and Pony, the footballer. Despite being known as a poet, Drinkwater was most famous for his Broadway success of Abraham Lincoln, published three years earlier. In the publisher's original brown speckled paper boards. Externally, smart, with minimal marks to boards. Small knocks to the head and tail of the spine, and to the extremities. Minor sunning to spine. Offsetting to free end papers and a couple of faint spots to pastedowns. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean. Very Good Indeed . Ill.: Paul Nash. Very Good Indeed .