ATROCITIES

HMS Shropshire was a Royal Navy 'London' County-class heavy cruiser, launched in 1928 and decommissioned in 1942. In July 1936, as part of the Mediterranean Fleet 1st Cruiser Squadron, she sailed to Barcelona, relieving HMS London, the first ship to arrive to take off refugees from the Spanish Civil War. The present item (possibly written by Admiral Binney) is excessively scarce: the only other copy traced is in the Hampshire Archives. [3] + 19pp., foolscap 8vo. The original document from the 1930s, spirit-duplicated in aniline ink, with pages on one side only of 22 leaves.

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. The poem, of 60 irregular lines, is placed (with a facsimile of Verhaeren's signature at the foot) within a thick floral border, reminiscent of the Arts and Crafts movement. It begins: 'Ce n'est qu'un bout de sol dans l'infini du monde. | Le Nord | Y déchaîne le vent qui mord. | Ce n'est qu'un peu de terre avec sa mer au bord | Et le déroulement de sa dune inféconde.' Scarce: no copy in the Bibliotheque Nationale, on COPAC or in the Imperial War Museum.