London: Faber, 1950

8vo, pp. 95. Original green boards, lettered in gilt to spine. Printed dust jacket. A very good copy in a very good dust jacket, chipped and a little sunned, spine scuffed and with chipping to head.

First edition, INSCRIBED BY DUNCAN TO HIS SECRETARY SARA RANDALL: 'For Sara, Ce qui vit sans jolie ni pas si sage qu'elle croit. Ronnie '58 Welcombe'.

The poet and playwright Ronald Duncan [1914-1982] became a largely forgotten figure even during his lifetime. His secretary Sara Randall (to whom this book is inscribed) became a literary agent later in life, and worked hard to restore his reputation. Also forgotten is the fact that Duncan was co-founder of the English Stage Company at the Royal Court theatre in London in 1956 -- and that he wrote the screenplay for the cult biker classic Girl on a Motorcycle (1968) starring Alain Delon and Marianne Faithfull.