[ Arnold Rattenbury, poet: inscribed copy. ] "Mozart Pieces" with Woodcuts by Thomas Bewick .

Author: 
Arnold Rattenbury (1921-2007), poet and exhibition designer; his wife Sim Rattenbury [ born Simonette Cooper-Willis ]
Publication details: 
Arnold Rattenbury - 127 Kenilworth Court Lower Richmond Road SW15 [ London ]. For New Year 1971.
£300.00
SKU: 19697

16pp., 16mo. Stapled. One minor manuscript correction. Aged and worn, in lightly-stained card covers carrying six Bewick woodcuts in black, with text lengthwise and upwards in red. The insides of the covers are red in colour, and on the front inside cover is written 'love from | Sim & Arnold'. Whether the hand is Rattenbury's or his wife's is not clear. Fourteen poems, from 'Considering K 279 to K 284' to 'Koechel's Adoration'. John Lucas, in his Guardian obituary (30 July 2007), singles out the present item as Rattenbury's finest poetic achievement: 'As a poet, Arnold thought naturally in sequences, and possibly the finest of these is Mozart Pieces, a series of sonnets which began life in the early 1970s and which he went on adding to for the rest of his life.' Scarce: no copy on OCLC WorldCat (apart from Ebook) or COPAC.