ALICE OSWALD (b.1966)
Dart. Devon: 2003.
Limited edition artists’ book of Oswald’s T. S. Eliot Prize-winning poem, annotated throughout by the poet. One of just 40 copies of an extraordinary collaborative project between people living locally to the River Dart, it is illustrated by a mix of media including etching, woodcut, linocut, and dry point executed by 28 named artists or groups of schoolchildren. The poet’s annotations, amounting to around 1000 words in total, detail the heard tales and personal experiences that inspired elements of the poem, from her son falling into the river to a story told by a carpenter. They also concern the literary influences on the work, highlighting the specific presence of Homer, Drayton, Beckett and Spenser in certain passages and the intriguing comment, ‘this poem listens to an Elizabethan poem’. A long note opposite the title page describes how the poet came to know Joanna Radford, who first conceived of this collaborative production, and her personal and political motivations in contributing to the present auction: ‘this is something of a sacred book but worth giving up if it can help someone.’

Folio. Original grey cloth, upper cover debossed in the shape of a river (a few marks to cloth); housed in original brown cloth slipcase.

Buyer’s premium is payable, with a significant portion donated by Christie’s to English PEN, but note that no VAT is payable on hammer price or buyer’s premium.
-