Items related to Octobiography
- PublisherStandard P
- Publication date1976
- ISBN 10 0900871245
- ISBN 13 9780900871245
- BindingLeather Bound
- LanguageEnglish
- Number of pages181
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octobiography
Published by
The Standard Press, Montrose, 1976
ISBN 10: 0900871245
ISBN 13: 9780900871245
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: Edinburgh Books, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good Plus. First Edition. 1976. 181pp. 23 B&W photos, 21 line drawings. "On 2nd March 1975 Helen Burness Cruickshank died in Edinburgh at the age of 88. Scotland's best loved modern poet, she had one final ambition, to "gang doun" like William Soutar "wi' a sang". And she very literally did that with a very moving poem about her own death, that she left unfinished. During the last months of her life she did the final polishing of her autobiography - her "Octobiography". It is as delightful as one would expect, rich in humour and philosophy, and full of the flavour of Edinburgh's cultural life through the last sixty years. From an Angus village she went to London. There the sight of her marching into Hyde Park, carrying one of the poles of the Hammersmith banner, was the first intimation to her family that she was now a Suffragette. For a time, in Edinburgh's busy West End, she lived in a studio flat surrounded by artists, sculptors, music teachers, a dancing school and working jewellers. She fell in love and the frustrations of love turned her into a poet. That was about the time when C.M. Grieve founded the Scottish Centre of P.E.N. Twelve months later she became its secretary and she held office for seven of its most formative years. But it was in Corstorphine, at "Dinnieduff", that she became one of the leading figures in Scotland's "literary renaissance". Her home became a meeting place for many well known writers. James Leslie Mitchell, C.M. Grieve, Edwin Muir and Douglas Young were among those who slept in the little Prophet's Chamber under the roof of "Dinnieduff", as guests of the Cruickshanks, and many others were regular visitors. Perth's invalid poet William Soutar was also among her friends. Here we will meet them all as she saw them, with shrewdly observant eyes. "Octobiography" is lavishly illustrated, not only with many photographs and line drawings, but with numerous poems by herself and others. The four page manuscript of her last unfinished poem is reproduced full-size. Many of her other poems too gain an added dimension by being shown in the setting which inspired them." Dark green leather binding with gilt titles to spine and gilt decoration to upper board. Top edge green. Green marbled endpapers. Light rubbing to spine ends and corners. The book is otherwise in excellent condition with no inscriptions. The unclipped dust jacket has some wear and tear with a little loss to the bottom of the spine. Seller Inventory # ScotPoetCruic06
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