Edith Sitwell — Five Variations on a Theme

London, Duckworth, 1933. First edition. Cloth. A volume of poetry by Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell DBE (7 September 1887 - 9 December 1964) who was a British poet and critic, eldest of the three literary Sitwells. First edition. Sitwell published poetry continuously from 1913, some of it abstract and set to music. With her dramatic style and exotic costumes, she was sometimes labelled a poseur, but her work was also praised for its solid technique and painstaking craftsmanship. She became a proponent and supporter of innovative trends in English poetry and opposed what she considered the conventionality of many contemporary backward-looking poets. Her flat became a meeting place for young writers whom she wished to befriend and help: these later included Dylan Thomas and Denton Welch. She also helped to publish the poetry of Wilfred Owen after his death. Her only novel, I Live under a Black Sun, based on the life of Jonathan Swift, was published in 1937. Published by independent British Publisher Duckworth, founded in 1898 by Gerald Duckworth. Important in the development of English literature in the first half of the twentieth century, being the publisher of figures such as Virginia Woolf (Gerald Duckworth's half-sister), W. H. Davies, Anthony Powell, John Galsworthy and D. H. Lawrence. In original marbled boards with lettering in red with matching unclipped dust wrapper. Externally, smart. Minor shelfwear to the boards. Dustwrapper with very light edgewear to spine and slight wear to front. Internally, firmly bound. Generally bright and clean throughout. Fine . Ill.: None. Fine/Fine.