First edition. 8vo. Original stapled paper wrappers. Inscribed by Larkin for Bruce Montgomery on the front cover, "R.B.M. from P.L. '54". A very good copy, a little toned to the edges of the covers.

A rare presentation copy of Larkin's third book of poems, and an excellent association copy, inscribed for his close friend Bruce Montgomery.
Larkin met Bruce Montgomery at Oxford, and they remained close friends for the rest of their lives. Larkin was the dedicatee of Montgomery's best known novel The Moving Toyshop (1946) and Larkin repaid the favour the following year by dedicating A Girl In Winter (1947) to Montgomery. Monica Jones held Montgomery as her favourite of Larkin's friends, but the full extent of the Larkin-Montgomery friendship may not be known until their correspondence, held by the Bodleian Library, is unsealed in 2035.
This book was commissioned by George MacBeth and Oscar Mellor, and features five poems, three of which (Lines On A Young Lady's Photograph Album; Arrivals, Departures; and Whatever Happened?) had not been published before.
It was printed in March 1954 in an edition of 300 copies and had sold out by the end of the year. It is the least common of Larkin's books to encounter inscribed, with only two others (inscribed for John Wain and Anthony Hobson, the latter signed eleven years after publication) having been offered for sale. The notable inscribed Larkin collections of Anthony Thwaite and Kingsley Amis did not include signed copies of this book.

PROVENANCE: Robert Bruce Montgomery (1921-1978), very close friend of Larkin's and an author of detective fiction under the pseudonym Edmund Crispin.

Bloomfield A5

Stock ID: 43650