Cave Birds. An Alechemical Cave Drama. Poems by Ted Hughes and Drawings by Leonard Baskin.
HUGHES, (Ted).; BASKIN (Leonard).
First edition. Oblong 4to., original black cloth, dust jacket. London, Faber and Faber. 1978
Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper: "To Fay, with love from Ted, Xmas 1978", below which he has added a 5-line verse in manuscript:
"The lens of the eye misted
Sees birds that never existed -
Though you and I prefer
The lens clear, and seeing, far,
Birds that actually are".
The dedicatee is Fay Godwin (1931-2005), a celebrated British landscape photographer who collaborated with Hughes on the book Remains of Elmet: A Pennine Sequence. She had been married to the publisher Tony Godwin and for many years was Chair of the Ramblers' Association. A fine copy in dust jacket, slightly rubbed at the extremities.
