"PINK-WASHED PLASTER BY A SHELTERED PATCH, / ILEX SHADOWS UPON VELVET THATCH…"

BETJEMAN, John. A Catalogue of Works by Sir John Betjeman from the Collection of Ray Carter with an Unpublished Poem. (London): Warren Editions, (1983). Tall thin octavo, original half red cloth with pink boards, original dust jacket. $400.

Signed limited first edition, number 74 of 80 copies hand bound by Clare Skelton and signed by Betjeman and illustrators Glynn Boyd Harte, John Piper and Phillida Gili.

As Philip Larkin comments in his Introduction, "Those who, not unnaturally, associate the Poet Laureate with literature may be surprised to find nearly half the exhibits dealing with architecture and topography. They need not: it is just this duality that has produced Betjeman's unique verse, a poetry of people in terms of places and places in terms of people. To comprehend him fully we must understand both interests."

Fine condition.