[T.S.Eliot; Friends Canterbury Cathedral, publication arranged by Rev. H.R. Williamson.] Friends' Festival Day | Sat., 12th July, 1952. [Programme and 'The Drama of our Festival Years', with work by T. S. Eliot, Poet Laureate John Masefield et al.]

Unpaginated stapled pamphlet of 24pp, small 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight damage at head of spine. On the second page: 'The arrangement of this Programme has been the work of the Rev. Hugh Ross Williamson.' Programme for the day on front cover, including a talk by 'Mr Robert Speight: “Touring in Canada with Murder in the Cathedral”'. The final event, at 7pm in the Chapter House, is a performance entitled 'The Drama of our Festival years', and the text of this piece makes up 21pp of the pamphlet. This begins with these words, recited by the Archbishop of Canterbury [Geoffrey Fisher (1887-1972)]: 'The Drama of our Festival years. First, that we may remember the makers who have made these plays for us, the latest of them, Robert Gittings, will recite the tribute he has composed to those who went before him – the other writers of the Canterbury Plays.' This is followed by a poetic prologue by Gittings, titled 'The Word', the twelve-lines stanzas of which are titled in the margins: Laurence Binyon, T. S. Eliot, Charles Williams, Dorothy L. Sayers, Christopher Hassall, Laurie Lee, Christopher Fry, 'The bringers of gifts in their kind', 'The betrayers of the word in modern life', 'The witness of the Word at Canterbury'. There follow long extracts from Canterbury Plays by Binyon, Eliot, Fry, Gittings, Hassall and Dorothy L. Sayers, with a final page carrying the text of a poem by John Masefield, beneath the text: 'All present are asked to join in singing the following hymn by the Poet Laureate to music written by the late Gustav Holst.' No other copy traced, either on OCLC WorldCat or on COPAC.