Help with identification of a book. T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets.

[RobT0]

Having a clear out and I have discovered a copy of The Four Quartets as
a single volume. No dust jacket and the spine is crushed. The spine has,
in faded gold capitals, the book title and the word Faber. (The
publisher.)
On the inside someone has hand written in ink a name and address and a
date November 1944.
The inside cover indicates it is Faber and Faber, London. The date is
Mcmxliv which I take to mean 1944. Is this a first edition UK copy?
This is because there is no other indication on it, so I would assume
so.
Any help confirming this would be useful. Additionally it would be
useful to have an insurance value ...
Thanks kindly.

[Francis A. Miniter]

Post by RobT0
Having a clear out and I have discovered a copy of The Four Quartets as
a single volume. No dust jacket and the spine is crushed. The spine has,
in faded gold capitals, the book title and the word Faber. (The
publisher.)
On the inside someone has hand written in ink a name and address and a
date November 1944.
The inside cover indicates it is Faber and Faber, London. The date is
Mcmxliv which I take to mean 1944. Is this a first edition UK copy?
This is because there is no other indication on it, so I would assume
so.
Any help confirming this would be useful. Additionally it would be
useful to have an insurance value ...
Thanks kindly.

The poems constituting The Four Quartets first appeared
individually in pamphlet form from Faber between 1940 -
1942. That would be the true first.

In 1943, Harcourt first published the Four Quartets as a
collected work in America. The first British publication of
the collected work was in 1944 by Faber. Now it appears
that two printings were made in 1944. There may be
information on the copyright page which clarifies the issue.

To be sure which printing you have, you should consult
Donald Gallup, T. S. Eliot: A Bibliography (1954).
--
Francis A. Miniter

In dem Lande der Pygmäen
gibt es keine Uniformen,
weder Abzeichen, noch irgend welche Normen,
Und Soldaten sind dort nicht zu sehen.

Siegfried von Vegesack, "Es gibt keine Uniformen"
from In dem Lande der Pygmäen

[Jack Campin]

Post by Francis A. Miniter

Post by RobT0
Having a clear out and I have discovered a copy of The Four Quartets as
a single volume. No dust jacket and the spine is crushed. The spine has,
in faded gold capitals, the book title and the word Faber. (The
publisher.)
On the inside someone has hand written in ink a name and address and a
date November 1944. [...]

The poems constituting The Four Quartets first appeared
individually in pamphlet form from Faber between 1940 -
1942. That would be the true first.
In 1943, Harcourt first published the Four Quartets as a
collected work in America. The first British publication of
the collected work was in 1944 by Faber. Now it appears
that two printings were made in 1944.

As far as I can tell, early editions of Eliot ("The Waste Land" apart)
aren't worth anywhere near as much as you might think. By the time
the Four Quartets poems were published, he was a banking certainty, so
he didn't have small editions most of which vanished into oblivion,
which is what it takes to produce rarity value.

The plays are just dead meat. Nobody's interested.

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