NECK-VERSE

First edition, first printing. Inscribed presentation copy. Original illustrated card wraps, the front panel showing a detail from the Canterbury Psalter (Psalm 51). A near fine copy, the binding square and firm, the contents clean throughout. Light crease to the spine consistent with careful reading. Minor staining to the lower edge of the page block, spreading a little to the lower edge (verso) of the rear cover and final page. £7.95 price sticker covering the original £6.95 printed to the rear panel.

Inscribed by the author in blue ink to the title page, "Anna, / with every good wish, / Ursula / Manchester, 1997". The author's fifth collection. A footnote on p. 58 elucidates the book's title, whose source is "the first verse of Psalm 51, so called because it was the trial verse of those who claimed Benefit of the Clergy. If a condemned person was able to read this verse, [...] he had saved his neck".