Edward D. McDonald

“ To the vast public, the autumn morning is only a sort of stage background against which they can display their own mechanical importance. But to some men still the trees stand up and look around at the daylight, having woven the two ends of darkness together into visible being and presence. ”

“ Lawrence’s writings every reasonable effort was made (with what success cannot now be told) to insure a complete record of his numerous and varied contributions to books. In this business it is plainly impossible to be sure that some items have not been overlooked. Without in the least attempting to disarm criticism, one may properly call attention to the great difficulty of running down anthologies of modern poetry and prose, to the making of which there seems, indeed, to be no end. ”

“ Copies of the first edition of The White Peacock are now genuinely scarce. The book is seldom listed in catalogues, where later Lawrence items are usually to be found. It is well known that certain books of comparatively [25] recent publication tend, for one reason or another, to disappear. These are often first books, the initial editions of which are seldom large. The White Peacock, a notable first novel, is a good example of this tendency. I believe that the Heinemann White Peacock is as scarce as the Methuen Rainbow, universally regarded as the rarest Lawrence item. ”

“ Amores, Mr. Lawrence’s second volume of poems, is a troublesome item. The first edition exists in two states. The first has the 16-page catalogue; the second does not. At no place in either issue is there a date. Copies with the catalogue would seem to be rare. At least I have so concluded after a sustained investigation. Copies without the catalogue are “easy,” and these are commonly sold—perhaps naturally enough—as of the first issue, which they are not.
The first American edition of Amores was published, from new plates, by B. W. Huebsch, New York, 1916. ”

“ At any rate the five copies of the book I examined were all unnumbered, and the original price on them was that of the regular edition. It is not too much to say the limited “Special Issue” of Psychoanalysis and the Unconscious is freakish rather than any thing else. It is a collector’s item.
After the first edition of this book had been exhausted, Mr. Seltzer issued the second printing in a more substantial “case,” that is to say, in cloth, in which form it is now available. ”

“ This small edition of Women in Love was done by Martin Secker, who imported the sheets for it from America. These sheets were the same as those printed for item 14, which was, of course, brought out by Thomas Seltzer, but without his imprint.
Except for size, copies of this edition of Women in Love are uniform with the Secker format of Mr. Lawrence’s novels, beginning with The Lost Girl and followed by the ordinary Women in Love described immediately above. ”

“ Lawrence’s contributions to periodicals. These contributions are not, everything considered, numerous. There are reasons for this. It has not been Mr. Lawrence’s custom to publish novels serially. He is not a voluminous writer of short stories, contenting himself, evidently, with being a great one. He has never been much given to reviewing, or to any other sort of hack-writing. Plainly, these are not Mr. Lawrence’s ways of keeping the pot boiling.
But numerous or not, the contributions to periodicals are often of great interest—even for reasons unrelated to technical bibliography. ”

“ The White Peacock, Mr. Lawrence’s first book, was published by William Heinemann from plates imported from Duffield and Company, New York. The omission of the English printer’s imprint was, however, accidental, not intentional. The exact date of the publication of the English edition was January 20, 1911, while that of the American issue was January 19. It is evident, therefore, that The White Peacock was meant to appear simultaneously in England and America. ”

“ As a result, copies of this edition in excellent state are now seldom seen. Most show signs of hard use. Nevertheless, all Lawrence collectors entertain the hope of having some fine day an editio princeps of Sons and Lovers in what they can superciliously call “pristine condition.” The incorrigibly optimistic want even the original dust-cover.
While waiting for this perfect copy, some collectors may do well to make sure that their present copies are of the first issue; for Sons and Lovers is rather a tricky item. ”

“ The first binding order on the English White Peacock, I am informed by William Heinemann, Ltd., was for 750 copies. The second binding order was for a like number. The two bindings differ on one point. The first has a blind stamp of the Heinemann device, the wind-mill, on the back cover; the second has not. However, both “cases,” which are otherwise alike, contain the first printed sheets. The inadvertent omission of the stamp from the second binding is the sort of variation which often occurs when the same sheets are bound at different times. ”

“ The lists make no claim to completeness. Nevertheless, they are probably more inclusive than they should be. Along with much that is fine, they contain much that is pointless and futile. But this is not surprising: the average critic sitting in judgment of Mr. Lawrence is quickly au bout de son latin.
Such, then, is the general plan of this bibliographical study. Designed primarily to meet the needs of Lawrence collectors, it will also be serviceable to students of what is now the most brilliant and challenging career in really contemporary English literature. ”

“ Backbone ornamented and lettered across in gilt: (two lines at top) / Sons / and / Lovers / D. H. / Lawrence / Duckworth / (two lines at bottom) . Back cover has in lower left corner blind stamp of publishers’ device, but is otherwise blank. All edges cut. End-papers white.
Sons and Lovers, now universally acclaimed one of the great novels of recent years, appeals strongly to many collectors who go in for modern first editions. The significance [31] of the book was realized soon after its publication, and copies of the initial printing were evidently read, passed around, and reread. ”

“ Some Imagist Poets, 1917 (a line beneath numbers) / An Annual Anthology / (publishers’ device) / Houghton Mifflin Company / Boston and New York (small ornament) . Lettered down backbone in black: Some Imagist Poets, 1917 (a line beneath numbers) . Back cover blank. All edges cut flush with boards. Wrappers over-lap top and bottom edges 1⁄8 inch, and fold in three inches at fore edges of boards. ”

“ Lawrence’s two published plays. It is not generally realized that the American issue of The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd preceded the English, which was, as a matter of fact, made from the Kennerley sheets. A not overly close examination of a Duckworth copy of this book will show that the fly-leaf with the series-title, etc. on recto, was cut out after the sheets had been sewed together. This accounts for the slight difference in the pagination of the two editions. Then, also, the matter on the reverse side of the Duckworth title-page clearly indicates that all of the sheets were American. ”

“ BOOKS by D. H. LAWRENCE
Fiction: Novels The White Peacock (1911) The Trespasser (1912) Sons and Lovers (1913) The Rainbow (1915) Women in Love (1920) The Lost Girl (1920) Aaron’s Rod (1922) Kangaroo (1923) The Boy in the Bush (1924)
(with M. L. Skinner) Fiction: Short Stories and Novelle The Prussian Officer (1914) England, My England (1922) The Ladybird (1923) St. Mawr (In preparation) Poetry Love Poems and Others (1913) Amores (1916) Look! We Have Come Through! (1917) New Poems (1918) Bay (1919) Tortoises (1921) Birds, Beasts and Flowers (1923)
[3]
Drama The Widowing of Mrs. ”

“ Regarding the third state, little need be said. One might be justified in reporting it as a second printing; but since there is nothing in the book to indicate a complete reprinting, it seemed better to regard it as one form of the first edition, as I have done. ”

“ To this volume, the first of three Imagist Anthologies published by the Houghton Mifflin Company, Mr. Lawrence contributed seven poems as follows: “Ballad of Another Ophelia;” “Illicit;” “Fireflies in the Corn;” “A Woman and Her Dead Husband;” “The Mowers;” “Scent of Irises;” “Green.” These poems occupy pages 67 to 78. The first and sixth appeared later in Amores. The second, third, fifth, and seventh were included in Look! We Have Come Through! But, “The Mowers,” revised, was here printed under the title “A Youth Mowing,” and “Illicit” became “On a Balcony.” ”

“ Collation:—pp. xii + 456, consisting of half-title (with a list of fifteen books By D. H. Lawrence, surrounded by one-line border, on verso) , pp. (i, ii) ; title-page, as above (with Copyright, 1923, by / Thomas Seltzer, Inc. / (a line) / All Rights Reserved / Printed in the United States of America on verso) , pp. (iii, iv) ; Biographical Note, pp. v-vii; Bibliography, p. viii; Principal Characters, pp. ix, (x) ; table of Contents (verso blank) , pp. (xi, xii) ; fly-leaf, First Part (verso blank) , pp. (1, 2) ; text, pp. 3-454. Pp. (455, 456) blank. There is no printer’s imprint. ”

“ Whether such copies as the publishers had on hand were committed to the tender mercies of the public hangman, I do not know. At any rate, it may be safely assumed that Methuen & Co., Ltd., complied fully with every mandate of the court, and that they distributed no copies of The Rainbow after November 13, 1915.
In his preface above Mr. Lawrence mentions the protests of Mr. Arnold Bennett and Miss May Sinclair against the suppression of The Rainbow. I regret my inability to give specific references to the time and place of these protests. But all indices failed me, and both Mr. ”

“ Crawford, N. A. Review of New Poems. Poetry, September, 1921.
Williams-Ellis, A. “Mr. D. H. Lawrence’s Work.” Spectator, October 1, 1921.
Van Doren, Carl. Review of Sea and Sardinia. Nation, January 4, 1922.
Hackett, Francis. “A Week in D. H. Lawrence:” Review of Sea and Sardinia. New Republic, January 11, 1922.
Anonymous. “D. H. Lawrence’s Dark and Vehement Genius.” Current Opinion, February, 1922.
Fuller, H. B. “Sardinian Days:” Review of Sea and Sardinia. Freeman, March 1, 1922.
Field, L. M. Review of Aaron’s Rod. New York Times Book Review, April 30, 1922. ”