In 1917, the John W. Luce Company of Boston published a "Gift Edition," a boxed edition of six volumes of his early stories. One set he inscribed (probably during his 1919 US tour), and it was put up for auction by Swann Galleries in 2011. Their catalog entry here shows the handwritten poem by Dunsany that he inscribed in The Gods of Pegana. I transcribe it here.
In a dream I must have gone,In a dream and sleeping fast,To a city never known,In a land that cannot last.Thence these stories I have broughtFor your cities mad with steam,That a dream from skies unthoughtMay be mingled with your dream.Dunsany
Greetings,
ReplyDeleteThis particular poem has been inscribed in one other known copy of The Gods of Pegana (the first edition no less) (also one I have been waiting to come up for years). I has sold once or twice in the last 20 years, permanently archived by Christies.
https://www.christies.com/lot/dunsany-edward-plunkett-lord-1878-1957-the-gods-4239545/?intObjectID=4239545&lid=1
Thanks, Cy. Very interesting that they date the poem to December 28, 1920. I wonder if that might merely be when he inscribed it in that copy. Dunsany was in the US in late 1919, and then again in 1928, so his inscribing the set described above would likely be at one of those times. (He also came to the US a number of times in later years, but those were less public affairs. 1919 was a lecture tour, and 1928 was also for lecturing).
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