Rhymes Without Reason

London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1944. First Edition. Cloth. Near Fine/Very Good. Fine association copy, with inscription from the great English actress Peggy Ashcroft, to John Hayward, the T.S. Eliot scholar and long-term house guest. Also, attached to the endpaper, is an envelope containing a Cecil Beaton photo of John Gielgud and Ashcroft as Romeo and Juliet, in which they were appearing together at the West End at the time this book was first issued! 8vo. 23.5 by 18 cm. 39 pp. With sixteen brightly colored and highly whimsical color plates, one for each of the nonsense verses by Peake. Peake was that rarity equally adept with the paint brush as with words. (The closest precedents might be Blake or Thackeray.) At the time this work appeared, though, Peake was far more established as a visual artist. Minor soiling to the cloth cover. The DJ has a narrow two inch long chip along the upper rear hinge, a few other small edge chips and other signs of light wear, but remains overall intact and attractive, and is now protected with a mylar layer. The DJ is NOT price clipped!