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The Waste Land
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Waste Land Paperback -

by T. S. Eliot

About this book

The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot is one of the most famous poems of the 20th century and is 434 lines long, divided into 5 sections: The Burial of the Dead, A Game of Chess, The Fire Sermon, Death by Water and What the Thunder Said. Considered obscure and often abstract, the poem interweaves a number of legends and mythologies of both eastern and western influence in a variety of voices.

Originally published in the 1922 issue of The Criterion (a U.K. magazine which was founded and edited by Eliot), it later appeared the subsequent month in the Dial magazine as its first U.S. appearance. The Wasteland first appeared in book form in 1922, published by Boni and Liveright in New York in an edition of 1000 copies. The first 500 copies were bound in a flexible black cloth, while the remaining copies were bound in a more traditional cloth hardcover. Both were issued in beige printed dust jackets. The first state is noted by the appearance of a dropped letter "a" on page 41 in the word mountain; the second issue has the word misprinted as "mount in." In nice condition, the first issue might be had in a jacket for $25,000 and up.

The first U.K. book edition was published the following year in the U.K by Hogarth Press in an edition of 450 copies. Also of note is the second NY edition on 1923, also published by Boni and Liveright and highly collectible.
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Details

  • Title The Waste Land
  • Author T. S. Eliot
  • Binding Paperback
  • Pages 26
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
  • ISBN 9781499316728 / 1499316720
  • Weight 0.11 lbs (0.05 kg)
  • Dimensions 9 x 6 x 0.05 in (22.86 x 15.24 x 0.13 cm)

About the author

When T. S. Eliot died, wrote Robert Giroux, "the world became a lesser place." Certainly the most imposing poet of his time, Eliot was revered by Igor Stravinsky "not only as a great sorcerer of words but as the very key keeper of the language." For Alfred Kazin he was "themana known as 'T. S. Eliot, ' the model poet of our time, the most cited poet and incarnation of literary correctness in the English-speaking world." Northrop Frye simply states: "A thorough knowledge of Eliot is compulsory for anyone interested in contemporary literature. Whether he is liked or disliked is of no importance, but he must be read." In 1945 Eliot wrote: "A poet must take as his material his own language as it is actually spoken around him." Correlatively, the duty of the poet, as Eliot emphasized in a 1943 lecture, "is only indirectly to the people: his direct duty is to his language, first to preserve, and second to extend and improve." (TPF)

More Copies for Sale

The Waste Land
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Waste Land

by Eliot, T. S.

  • Used
  • Good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781499316728 / 1499316720
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Newport Coast, California, United States
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This seller has earned a 3 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$32.26
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Description:
paperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.
Item Price
$32.26
FREE shipping to USA