Poems by Edward Thomas first edition 1917

London: Selwyn & Blount, 1917
 
Thin 8vo, drab publisher’s boards with printed paper label to spine; outer edge untrimmed; pp. [vi], 7-63, [i]; with frontis photogravure portrait of the poet behind mounted tissue guard, the photograph taken by Duncan Williams; a good to very good copy of a scarce work, boards a little scratched and rubbed, browned along the backstrip with some pushing and chipping to spine tips; pages 33-63 evenly toned, perhaps due to the change in paper stock with tissue a little more so; gutter cracked at centre, but holding firm; review clipping loosely inserted.
 
First edition of this collection of poems, published towards the end of the First World War. 

Although considered a war poet, Thomas’ poems seldom dealt with his experiences of his time at the front. Instead, many of his writings focus on his experiences of the English countryside - the farms, animals and birds he encountered before his time in the army. This volume is dedicated to his friend Robert Frost - the two were so close that they had planned to live together in the USA after the war, and Frost’s most famous poem, The Road not Taken, is said to be inspired by Thomas’ indecisiveness about which path to take on one of their many walks in the country.