Prospect of the Sea First Edition - Dylan Thomas - Bauman Rare Books

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Prospect of the Sea

Dylan THOMAS

Item#: 109502 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Prospect of the Sea

"THINK TRICKSTER, THINK CHAMELEON—THAT IS WHAT HE IS": FIRST EDITION OF DYLAN THOMAS' PROSPECT OF THE SEA

THOMAS, Dylan. A Prospect of the Sea and other stories and prose writings. London: J.M. Dent & Sons, (1955). Octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket.

First edition of a posthumous collection of 15 prose works by Thomas, chosen by him before his tragic early death, expressing a "genre unique in contemporary fiction," featuring the first appearance in book form of the longer version of How to be a Poet.

Dylan Thomas' writing, both his poetry and prose, "is all about flux and instability, reality and deceptive appearances, about saying one thing and meaning another… Think trickster, think chameleon—that is what he is, 'a dog among the fairies'" (John Goodby). This posthumous volume contains 15 works, many from the 1930s, chosen by Thomas as writings "he wished to be preserved" (v). "The 'progressive line, or theme, or movement' which Thomas insisted upon for every poem is also present in every tale… The result is a genre unique in contemporary fiction" (Pratt, Dylan Thomas' Early Prose, 34, 49). It is edited by Daniel Jones, whose friendship with Thomas began when both were young boys and lasted until Thomas' death. It was Jones who saw that his friend's body was brought home from America. Jones also edited Dylan Thomas: The Poems (1971) and authored My Friend Dylan Thomas (1977). First edition, first issue: with "First Published July 1955" and no statement of printings on the copyright page. All "these prose pieces had appeared in book form previously elsewhere except 'How to be a Poet,' which, however, appeared in Quite Early One Morning, American edition [1954], but in a slightly shortened form" (Rolph B.28). Frontispiece and photographic illustration on rear dust jacket panel from a photograph by Douglas Glas. Maud, 25.

Book fine; light edge-wear, mild toning to spine of near-fine dust jacket.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
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