SELECTIONS FROM THE POEMS OF DOROTHY WELLESLEY.
With an Introduction by W.B. Yeats and a Drawing by Sir William Rothenstein. London: Macmillan and Co., 1936. Original pale yellow linen, with dust jacket.
First Edition. Dorothy Violet Ashton (1889-1956) married the Duke of Wellington (Gerald Wellesley) in 1914, but left him and their children eight years later, for a relationship with Vita Sackville-West.
According to W.B. Yeats, Wellesley was one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century -- see his Introduction to the Oxford Book of Modern Verse 1892–1935. "Within two minutes of our first meeting at my house [in 1935] he said: ‘You must sacrifice everything and everyone to your poetry'." Yeats discovered her poetry while researching the Oxford Book of Modern Verse and said "My eyes filled with tears. I read in excitement that was more delightful because it showed that I had not lost my understanding of poetry." Only later did he find who she was and what was her station in life.[Wiki]
Yeats went on to edit and revise her poetry during his last few years (he died in early 1939).
The number of copies printed is unknown, but according to Wade "Most of this edition was destroyed by fire during the air raids on London" -- which would imply a slow sale over those four or five years; sure enough, this book is quite uncommon today. This is a fine copy in a near-fine (slightly darkened) dust jacket. Wade 283. Provenance: bookplate of George Cukor, the legendary film director (and book collector!). Item #14956
Price: $425.00