The Whitsun Weddings
By Philip Larkin
 
First edition, first impression, published by Faber & Faber in 1964. 
 
Larkin's third full collection, 'The Whitsun Weddings' is widely regarded as his finest book and one of the most significant poetry collections of the post-war period. Its poems-among them "MCMXIV", "Dockery and Son", "An Arundel Tomb", and the title poem-are central to Larkin's reputation for formal mastery, emotional restraint, and sharply observed social detail. The title poem, inspired by a train journey from Hull to London, has become one of the most anthologised English poems of the twentieth century and helped define Larkin's image as a chronicler of provincial life and quiet revelation. The collection was a Poetry Book Society Choice and played a major role in establishing Larkin as the dominant voice of what came to be known as "The Movement".
 
Octavo. Original plum cloth, gilt lettering bright, the cloth clean and unfaded with only a little uniform toning to edges, else fine.
 
The price-clipped dust-jacket is Very Good: moderate toning to spine panel and to top edge, but unfaded, and with the characteristic green and red geometric borders retaining excellent colour.