One of only 120 copies
MOORE, Marianne. The Pangolin And Other Verse. Plaistow, London: The Curwen Press. 1936.
Tall 8vo. Boards printed in black and blue; with 8 head and tailpieces by George Plank; pp. [12], 3-24, [6]; a few small spots to boards, a touch toned to spine; internally clean, with some residue from a bookplate, otherwise a very good copy.
First edition. One of just 120 copies printed at the Curwen Press.
Moore had a penchant for pangolins, finding beauty in the strange creatures that others might find ugly or bizarre. She was first introduced to the animals in 1927, when it was described to her by a friend who had travelled to Borneo. She later wrote to her brother, serving at the time in the U.S. Navy: "I want you to tell me if you see a pangolin. It looks like an artichoke, has a tail about a foot long and lives on ants (is in fact an armored anteater)."
When Moore wrote the fated words: "man and beast/each with a splendor/which man in all his vileness cannot set aside,” she was unable to know the fate of these remarkable creatures: they are widely considered to be the world's most trafficked mammal, and are currently on the critically endangered list.
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