Collected Shorter Poems 1927-1957. By W.H. Auden. First American Edition, First Printing. Random House. New York, 1967.

Wystan Hugh Auden is hailed as one of the best poets of the twentieth century. Born in England in 1907, he went on to attend Oxford, experiencing the country’s greatest education and developing a deep connection to the many British poets before him. Then in the 1930s he moved to the United States, by then an acclaimed international poet and professor. His hundreds of poems were widely read by then, receiving praise from modernists and the other literary movements of the time. Many of his poems have become standard reading in schools across the Americas and Europe, making Auden one of the most influential poets of the era. In this collection of his shorter poems, Auden’s full talent is on display. It was published in the last decade of his life and subsequently captures nearly all his most significant short poems.

This first American edition, first printing, is in very good condition. In the original quarter cloth, fine. Text block near-fine, only former owner’s stamp to front free endpaper. Top edge dyed green. In the original dust jacket, very good with only chipping and creases to edges.

A very good first American edition of Auden’s Collected Shorter Poems.