THE CLASSICAL PAPERS OF A. E. HOUSMAN: Complete in Three Volumes: Vol. I. 1882-1897; Vol. II. 1897-1914; Vol. III. 1915-1936.

First edition, first printing. Complete in three volumes. Original oatmeal cloth lettered and ruled in gilt to brown labels on each spine, in dustwrappers. A near fine set, the bindings square and firm, the contents clean throughout. Only Vol. III appears to have been read and shows some very minor signs of wear (a couple of light creases to page margins, for example). The other two volumes appear to be unused. The wrappers are clean and complete but those for Vols. I and III both have significant closed tears to upper edges of the fold between front panel and spine (c. 6 and 8 cm respectively), and a handful of shorter closed tears to edges. The wrapper for Vol. II is a little rubbed and nicked to extremities. Vols. II and III are unclipped and respectively priced £12.60 and £13.90 net.. Vol. I has been clipped and repriced (£15.00 net) by the publisher. A very presentable example of an uncommon set.

As well as producing the concentrated lyric poems for which he is celebrated, Housman was one of the finest classical scholars of his generation. As with his poetry, so with the scholarship, a native fastidiousness limited what he wrote and what he agreed to publish; during his lifetime, he published editions of Ovid, Marcus Manilius, Lucan and Juvenal, and a handful lectures. Alongside his academic duties as Professor of Latin at University College London, however, he regularly contributed classical papers and reviews to a number of academic journals. As early as 1936, the year Housman died, A. S. F. Gow asserted that "[w]hen a scholar of A. E. Housman's eminence has disposed of much of his work in periodicals, the convenience of scholars no less than respect for his memory commonly demands the publication of his Collected Papers", but as the editors of these three substantial volumes note in their preface, "[t]he reason why the re-publication of Housman's papers has been delayed for over thirty-five years is [...] found in a clause of his will". In that clause, Housman "expressly desire[s] and wish[es] my desire to be made as widely known as possible that none of my writings which have appeared in periodical publications shall be collected and reprinted in any shape or form." The editors "offer no apology" for flouting the author's wishes, noting that "[i]t is proper that Housman's friends and scholars nearer to him in time should have bound themselves by this prohibition; but posterity cannot be bound for ever." They also reason that as the original copyright of the papers would soon expire, "it could not be expected that their re-publication would be delayed much beyond that time [, and it] would be sad indeed to see them published in a hasty and slipshod manner, or otherwise than in their entirety. Our edition has, we hope, precluded this danger." All references have been checked and where necessary updated, and errors corrected. Comprehensive indexes of passages, words and topics and a list of bibliographical sources are also provided. Even if he may have disapproved in principal, the meticulousness with which this important edition has been prepared might well have met with Housman's approval. (Carter, Sparrow and White 26)