THE TREE OF IDLENESS BY DURRELL, FIRST EDITION

DURRELL, Lawrence. The Tree of Idleness and Other Poems. London: Faber and Faber, (1955). Slim octavo, original purple cloth, original dust jacket. Housed in custom chemise and slipcase. $300.

First edition.

Durrell lived in the Cypriot village of Bellapais in the 1950s, and took the title of this poetry collection from folklore about an ancient mulberry tree south of the village abbey: “legend said that if you sat under its rambling, gnarled branches, you would be seized by the spirit of pure idleness” (MacNiven, 390). Poetry Book Society letter from 1955 included in chemise. Small owner’s ticket to recto of rear free endpaper.

A fine copy.