Lot 22
Sassoon, Siegfried (1886-1967)
Two inscribed first editions and an important association copy
Auction: 16 June 2026 from 10:00 BST
Description
The War Poems. London: William Heinemann, 1919. First edition, first impression, presentation copy, inscribed by the author ‘M. W. N. from Siegfried Sassoon, Nov. 1919’ on the half-title (with 'Nevinson' added in pencil next to the inscription), 8vo, 95 pp., original red cloth, printed paper labels to spine and front board, spine sunned and rolled, closed tear in pp. 19/20;
Counter-Attack and Other Poems. London: William Heinemann, 1918. First edition, first impression, inscribed by the author on the half-title with a complete transcription of his poem ‘The Dug-Out’ (first published in The Picture Show, 1919), signed and dated St Venant July 1918 (the date of composition), 8vo, original wrappers, 63 [1] pp., front wrapper detached, textblock browned, section of paper-thinning above inscription on half-title apparently from erasure of an additional inscription, retaining fragmentary envelope of London bookseller Martin Breslauer annotated in pencil with a description of the present copy;
The Old Huntsman and Other Poems. London: William Heinemann, 1917. First edition, 8vo, original boards, (errata slip), Sassoon's first published book, with ownership inscription of Henry W. Nevinson dated 1917 to the front pastedown, a magazine cutting containing two poems by Sassoon mounted to the rear free endpaper (3)
Footnote
The recipient of this copy of The War Poems is believed to have been Margaret Wynne Nevinson (1858-1932), political activist and campaigner for women's suffrage. Her husband Henry Woodd Nevinson (1856-1941), the owner of this copy of The Old Huntsman, was a prominent war correspondent. The war artist C. R. W. Nevinson was their son.