First edition of Ash Wednesday
signed by T.S. Eliot

"Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such things
(Why should the aged eagle stretch its wings?)
Why should I mourn
The vanished power of the usual reign?"

ELIOT, T. S. Ash Wednesday. New York: The Fountains Press; London: Faber and Faber, 1930. Octavo, original blue cloth gilt, original glassine, original slipcase. $3500.

Signed limited first edition, one of only 600 copies signed by Eliot.

One of Eliot's most intimate and mature works, Ash Wednesday, with its tone of deep religious meditation, marks a sharp break from his earlier poetry. It was also, notably, the first long poem to be written after his conversion to the Church of England. An unusually fine copy in the original fragile glassine; scarce in this condition.