Epistle To A Godson & Other Poems.

First edition of this classic collection of poems. Octavo, original half cloth. Inscribed by W.H. Auden on the front free endpaper with the first three stanzas of "Doggerel by a Senior Citizen" which reads in full: "Our earth in 1969 / Is not the planet I call mine, / The words, I mean, that gives me strength / To hold off chaos at arm's length. / My Eden landscapes and their climes / Are constructs from Edwardian times, / When bathrooms took up lots of space, / And, before eating, one said Grace. / The automobile, the aeroplane / Are useful gadgets but profane: / The enquiry of which I dream / Is moved by water or by steam." Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco folding case. Accompanied by newspaper clippings of the author and the original mailing envelope addressed entirely in the author's hand to "Reginald Addyes-Scott." Ownership plate of William A. Strutz to the front pastedown. Rare and desirable as Auden passed away a year after publication.