Doctor Donne & Gargantua. First Canto. With a Drawing by Wyndham Lewis.

LEWIS, Wyndham (illus.); SITWELL, Sacheverell.

Published by London: The Favil Press, 1921

About this Item

First edition, limited issue, number 83 of 101 copies signed by the author. Wyndham Lewis contributed the woodcut frontispiece to this title, Sacheverell's second book, during the early days of his acquaintance with the Sitwell family, while he was still endeavouring to ingratiate himself in the hopes that they would financially support him. Lewis turned quickly on the family, irritated by Edith's arrogance and contemptuous of the artists they chose to support instead of him. He referred to the siblings, Edith, Sacheverell, and Osbert, as a trio of clowns, and immortalized them in his satire, The Apes of God (1930). Despite the towering popularity of his older siblings, Sacheverell published over 50 volumes of poetry and some further 50 works of prose during his lifetime. Doctor Donne & Gargantua, a "metaphysical fantasia extensively evoking Rabelais" (SF Encyclopedia), was the work of 10 years. The first three cantos were published separately between 1921 and 1926, with the full work of six cantos published in book form by Duckworth in 1930. The Favil Press was run by Charles and Ursula Birnstingl in Kensington, London, from 1920 until 1932. They published Edith's Façade (1922), and a number of Vorticist works. The printed limitation states that 50 copies of the edition were reserved by the author; the "50" is struck through and corrected to "21", as noted in Fifoot. Fifoot SA2; Morrow B12. Jeffrey Meyers, The Enemy: A Biography of Wyndham Lewis, 1980. Octavo, pp. 14. Original marbled wrappers, title label on front wrapper printed in black, fore edge untrimmed. Spine ends worn with split to foot, wrappers sunned and a little rubbed, fore and lower edges a little chipped and creased, front pastedown lifting, contents lightly foxed; a good copy of a fragile publication.

Seller Inventory # 161699

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Doctor Donne & Gargantua. First Canto. With a Drawing by Wyndham Lewis.
• Publisher: London: The Favil Press, 1921
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)