LOT #45338 |
Sold on Dec 11, 2024 for: Sign-in
or Join (free & quick)
Francis Thompson. Autograph manuscript of the poem "A Retrograde Fancy."...
Click the image to load the highest resolution version.
Sold on Dec 11, 2024 for:
$625.00
Bid Source: HA.com/Live bidder
Get one of these:
Explore Available Items
Description
Francis Thompson. Autograph manuscript of the poem "A Retrograde Fancy." No place, no date.2 pages, 8vo (201 x 166 mm), on a single sheet of lined paper. Housed in a quarter black morocco folding case.
AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT OF THE 36-LINE UNPUBLISHED POEM "A RETROGRADE FANCY."
The poem reads, in full: "Beasts," said gentle Swift / In his haste, "now and then / ('Tis a compliment to humankind) / Degenerate into men." / The birds and beasts, I've heard, of late -- / So put this past dubiety -- / Have betook themselves to Science / And a Royal Society. / The minutes of the first meeting / Have just come to hand: -- / They had knowledge ready-peptonized, / And truth preserved and canned. / And the subject and the lecturer / Were linked with such propriety, / That it couldn't be surpassed / In our own Royal Society. / Mr. Worm read a paper / On The Structure of our Earth; / And a little Koch's Bacillus / Gave them Man: his Death and Birth; / Mr. Curlew Deep-Sea Fishing, / And the Habitants of Ocean; / Mr. Swallow talked of Ether / And the Planetary Motion. They had scientific certainties / Of the latest new variety; / It reminded them of Pentecost / In that Royal Society! / The reactionary Owl alone / (Confusion to her blinkers!) / Said: "I see more in the dark, / Than you 'scientific thinkers.'" / But they cried: "You obscurantist / Myth of ancient fossil piety! / You're an idea exploded / By this Royal Society!"
The present poem is unpublished; Boston College appears to have a version of the manuscript by Thompson in its collection, but in the hand of Harriet Patmore (third wife of Coventry Patmore, a friend, fellow poet, and correspondent of Thompson).
Condition: Creased along old folds; sheet lightly toned with a few spots; minor chipping; a few small pinpricks; lightly stained.
Provenance: According to a laid-in description, the present manuscript was in the personal papers of the author; upon his untimely death, the papers passed to the Meynell family, who had taken him in. From the William A. Strutz Library.
View all of [The William A. Strutz Library ]
Auction Info
2024 December 11 Important English and American Literature: The William A. Strutz Library, Part II, Rare Books Signature® Auction #6300 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
December, 2024
11th
Wednesday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 1
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 146
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% on the first $1,000,000 (minimum $49), plus 20% of any amount between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000, plus 15% of any amount over $5,000,000 per lot.
Shipping, Taxes, Terms and Bidding
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms
Important information concerning Sales Tax and Resale Certificates. Learn More
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms