Adlestrop Revisited (Signed copy)

Signed by Anne Harvey, an anthology inspired by Edward Thomas's poem

Author

Anne Harvey, editor and compiler

Publisher

Alan Sutton, Stroud, 1999

Printing Details

First edition. Paperback. 24.5 × 17cm, 116pp.

This copy from the library of Anne Powell, historian, anthologist and author on the First and Second World Wars, and signed to her by the compiler Anne Harvey. Loosely pasted in is a copy of a review from Vernon Scannell.

Edward Thomas never left the train that stopped briefly at a Cotswold station, Adlestrop, just before World War I, but what he saw resulted in one of the best known and loved English poems, Adlestrop. Generations of literary pilgrims have visited the village which inspired the poem, while many of today's writers have composed their own tributes to the poet and the place where, after the closure of the station, the nameboard was lovingly retained. This anthology explores Adlestrop's literary, topographical and railway associations. Anne Harvey investigates the origins of the poem: did the train really stop 'unwontedly'? Was it an express? Was Thomas travelling alone? His fascination with the railways began in boyhood and is seen in two of his little-known short stories, 'A Third-Class Carriage' and 'Death by Misadventure'.

The book also examines the connection with Jane Austen, who visited her Leigh relatives at Adlestrop Park and Rectory, and there are poems from Peter Porter, Alan Brownjohn, P.J. Kavanagh, Dannie Abse and Brian Patten. A wide selection of illustrations includes facsimiles of Edward Thomas's original manuscript and notebook entries, photographs and fine wood engravings by well-known artists. This engaging anthology will appeal to all who have read and loved this classic poem.