What Far Kingdom: Poems

Arthur S. Bourinot

Published by Ryerson University Press, 1941

About this Item

Arthur Stanley Bourinot (1893-1969) was a Canadian lawyer, poet, and scholar of Canadian poetry. He began writing poetry during his undergraduate studies, publishing his first book of poetry in 1915. His poetry was particularly focused on natural themes, but also reflects other interests and experiences as well, including his time serving in the military during the First World War. He enlisted with the 77th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, the Governor General's Foot Guards, and served overseas with the 87th Battalion CEF, the Grenardier Guards. In Europe he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. During an air battle he was shot down and presumed dead, but was later found to have been taken prisoner of war, imprisoned at Karlsruhe, Freiburg, and Holzminden. His love of poetry appears to have helped him endure this experience, as was written in the war memorial book produced by his university in 1922, which described him as "the gentle poet who consoled himself in captivity by writing poems." After the war he studied law, and worked as a lawyer in Ottawa at the same time as pursuing his own writing, both of poetry, and scholarly literary studies of other Canadian poets, which contributed greatly to the development of literary criticism in Canada. He was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1968 for his contributions to Canadian literature. This copy is in very good condition with a dust jacket also in very good condition. The covers are stiff green card with an orange dust jacket. The dust jacket as some slight damage on the front from an old price sticker. There is some minor foxing to the page edges, and on some of the pages, but nothing that affects the text. There is some slight bending and creasing to the bottom cover and dust jacket. This copy appears to be signed by the author on the front fly leaf, dated 1941.

Seller Inventory # 308

Bibliographic Details

• Title: What Far Kingdom: Poems
• Publisher: Ryerson University Press
• Publication Date: 1941
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)