ABOUT THE HOUSE

First UK edition, first printing. Original blue cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, in dustwrapper. With errata slip tipped in to the contents page. A fine copy, the binding square and firm, the contents clean throughout. Small manufacturing glitch in the weave of the cloth on the outer edge of the front panel (c. 1 x 1.5 cm), softening to lower spine tip. In the dustwrapper, fine except for a little rubbing to spine tips and a touch of soiling to the rear panel and fold. Not price-clipped (15s net to the front flap). A nice copy.

'About the House' begins with 'Thanksgiving for a Habitat', a sequence of twelve poems in the form of a tour through the various rooms of Auden's house in Kirchstetten in Austria, each poem dedicated to a friend, living or dead. Highlights include the beautiful third poem, 'The Cave of Making', dedicated to the memory of Louis Macneice and 'The Geography of the House', the sixth, for Christopher Isherwood. The book is dedicated to the writer, Edmund Wilson and his wife Elena; Wilson was an early champion of Auden's frequently misunderstood (and under-appreciated) later work. The first UK edition of 'About the House' was published on 27 January, 1966 in an edition of 4000 copies (the US edition had been issued in July, 1965). (Bloomfield A49b).