Lot 155
Signed Copies - Service, Robert W.
Auction: 26 January 2011 at 11:00 GMT
Description
A collection of presentation copies from Service to Archibald K. Bruce, to include Ballads of a Cheechako. London, 1914. Fourth impression, 8vo, original cloth, some browning to early leaves, foxing; Rhymes of a rolling stone. London, 1913. Second impression, 8vo, original cloth gilt, some foxing; Songs of a sourdough. London, [no date]. Twenty-seventh impression, 8vo, original cloth gilt; Ballads of a bohemian. London, 1921. 8vo, original cloth gilt, backstrip faded; The rhymes of a red-cross man. London, 1916. 8vo, original red cloth gilt, some foxing, backstrip fading; The pretender. London, 1915. 8vo, original cloth gilt, faded, inner hinges weak, foxing; The house of fear. New York, 1927. First edition, 8vo, original decorative cloth, rubbed; The master of the microbe. New York, 1926. 8vo, original cloth, backstrip faded, some foxing; The poisoned paradise. New York, 1922. 8vo, original cloth , faded (9)
Footnote
Note: Robert W. Service (1874-1958) is often referred to as the "Bard of the Yukon".
Born to a Scottish family in Preston in 1874, he was sent to Scotland for school and was educated at Hill Head High School in Glasgow. In 1895 Service left Scotland for British Columbia in Canada. After spending several years travelling around Service eventually settled in the Yukon area with a position at the Canadian Bank of Commerce. Inspired by the vast beauty of the Yukon area Service began to write poetry. Publishing his first work in 1907, The Songs of a Sourdough proved so popular Service was able to quit his position as the bank within a couple of years.