HUGHES, Ted. River. Boston: Faber and Faber. 1983.
Oblong 8vo. Blue cloth bound boards with silver title lettering on spine; pp. 8-128; toning to top edge of front and back cover; minor bumping to top and bottom of spine; dust cover a little sunned and creased; otherwise very good.
First edition, affectionately inscribed "To Nick/When you lack a lake/remember the rivers/ best wishes/ from Ted/25th September 1984".
The bestowing of River would have been a particularly resonant gesture between Ted Hughes and Nick Grant given their mutual love of fishing, an activity which informed their relationship. The collection explores the quality of renewal derivative of the water courses and aquatic world. It traces the way the ecosystem alters alongside the seasons and River is a compilaton of material many of which was published long before 1983. In the poem Ophelia, Hughes makes subtle reference to the images of the river and its underworld that were employed by his wife Sylvia Plath such as in Crossing the Water.
Beautiful photographs of riverside insects, scenes and birds by Peter Keen accompany the work.
#2121060