{"product_id":"in-excelsis-by-lord-alfred-douglas-signed","title":"In Excelsis by Lord Alfred Douglas [signed]","description":"\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLondon: Martin Secker (1924). First edition. Original blue cloth, upper board lettered in gilt, in the original printed dust jacket. Book Condition: Fine, Jacket Condition: Very Good- complete, with some toning \u0026amp; wear to edges. 45pp.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003eA remarkable presentation copy, inscribed by Lord Alfred Douglas to the poet Arthur Clark Kennedy, with a full-page transcription, apparently in Douglas's hand and signed by him, of the separately composed prison poem “To a Certain Judge”; together with a substantial autograph letter signed from Douglas to Kennedy, with its original envelope addressed to Kennedy at Chillingham Castle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eInscribed by Douglas on the front blank:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Arthur Clark Kennedy\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003efrom\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAlfred Douglas.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFebruary. 1924.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe date is evidently a slip for \u003c\/span\u003eFebruary 1925\u003cspan\u003e. The book itself was not published until after Douglas's imprisonment in 1924, and the accompanying letter to Kennedy is dated 11 February 1925, while its envelope, addressed to Kennedy at Chillingham Castle, is postmarked Nice, 22 February 1925. Douglas would therefore appear simply to have written the previous year by mistake when presenting the volume early in 1925.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn the verso of the same leaf is a full-page transcription of Douglas's sonnet \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eTo a Certain Judge,\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e headed with that title and signed “Alfred Bruce Douglas,” followed by the notation: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Written in Wormwood Scrubs\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePrison January 1924.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe transcription appears to be in Douglas's hand, although the comparatively heavy paper leaves little visible show-through or impression on the opposite side, and we therefore describe it conservatively as \u003c\/span\u003eapparently autograph\u003cspan\u003e pending definitive physical authentication. We have traced no description of another copy of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn Excelsis\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, in either the ordinary or limited issue, containing this additional manuscript-style leaf. “To a Certain Judge” does not form part of the sonnet sequence printed in the volume; manuscript versions of the poem are recorded in institutional Douglas collections.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLaid into the volume is a substantial \u003c\/span\u003eautograph letter signed by Douglas\u003cspan\u003e, two pages on a single sheet of blue stationery headed “Gloria Mansion, 63, Promenade des Anglais, Nice,” dated \u003c\/span\u003e11 February 1925\u003cspan\u003e, addressed “Dear Mr Clark Kennedy.” Douglas writes of his recent movements and acquaintances on the Riviera and acknowledges material sent to him by Kennedy. Retained with the letter is its original blue envelope, addressed in Douglas's hand to:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eArthur Clark Kennedy Esq.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eChillingham Castle,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eChathill,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNorthumberland.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe envelope bears a Nice postmark of 22 February 1925.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe recipient, \u003c\/span\u003eArthur Clark Kennedy (1860–1939)\u003cspan\u003e, was a minor poet, translator, and literary figure of the fin-de-siècle period, author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePictures in Rhyme\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (1891) and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eErotica\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (1894), and an early English translator of Paul Verlaine. During the period represented by this presentation he was agent to the Earl of Tankerville at \u003c\/span\u003eChillingham Castle, Northumberland\u003cspan\u003e, where he lived from approximately 1923 to 1926. His literary correspondence extended to a number of prominent contemporaries. Particularly germane to the present association, Kennedy was corresponding at almost exactly this time with \u003c\/span\u003eWinston Churchill\u003cspan\u003e, whose father he had written about and who sent Kennedy a presentation copy of his \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLord Randolph Churchill\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e in January 1925.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThat circumstance lends an unusual resonance to the present volume. Douglas had composed \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn Excelsis\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e during his six-month imprisonment in Wormwood Scrubs following his conviction for criminal libel against Winston Churchill. The printed preliminary statement records that the sequence was begun in Wormwood Scrubs on 5 February and completed on Good Friday, 18 April 1924. Thus, within weeks of corresponding with Churchill, Kennedy received from Douglas a presentation copy of the poems resulting from Douglas's imprisonment for libelling Churchill, augmented with another prison-associated poem and accompanied by Douglas's personal letter.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWith \u003c\/span\u003eArthur Clark Kennedy's armorial bookplate\u003cspan\u003e to the front pastedown and a small contemporary pencilled ownership notation at the upper corner of the title page, apparently relating to Kennedy and Chillingham Castle.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOriginal dust jacket somewhat toned and lightly worn, with minor edge wear; blue cloth bright, with gilt lettering remaining clear; some expected age-toning internally. The accompanying letter and envelope show folds and minor handling wear, the envelope with some edge loss. Overall a very good copy in the scarce original jacket, with an exceptional contemporary literary association.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn unusually rich association copy of Douglas's prison poems: presented to fellow poet Arthur Clark Kennedy, augmented with a complete signed transcription of a separate Douglas prison poem, and retaining Douglas's accompanying autograph letter and its Chillingham Castle envelope.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"isSelectedEnd\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BOOK\/SHOP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45400462622835,"sku":null,"price":1500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0880\/2454\/files\/IMG_3273.jpg?v=1787792416","url":"https:\/\/www.shopbookshop.com\/products\/in-excelsis-by-lord-alfred-douglas-signed","provider":"BOOK\/SHOP","version":"1.0","type":"link"}