|  | | Edward James. With decorations by Rex Whistler.
The James Press. London. 1932 [1933]. First edition. No. 97 of 525 copies, this being from the edition of 500 printed on pure rag machine-made paper. Hardback; ivory cloth-bound boards, with gilt star design to boards and title to spine, t.e.g.. vii, 86 pages. Title-page, dedication page, 4 full-page plates, numerous head- and tail-pieces, colophon device drawn by Rex Whistler. English. 285 x 195mm. 0.8kg. . Very good; slight shelf wear to boards, slight pushing to forecorners and base of spine, some light browning to edges and spine, ivory cloth slightly marked.
A first edition of Edward James' privately-published collection of poems. The Next Volume is beautifully illustrated by Rex Whistler. Edith Olivier writes in her diary in 1932 - "Rex is making drawings for some poems by a Mr James - the best drawings I have seen of his in some ways. Such a sure touch. An amusing one of New York - skyscrapers towering over a park in which the trees look like cabbages. It has great beauty.". James halted the binding of the first edition because "of how awful that first poem [At the Grave of Shelley] was", meaning that there are likely far fewer than the stated 525 copies. A statement on the colophon notes that he also delayed the publication of the book until January 1933 'owing to the serious illness of the author's wife [Tilly Losch]'.
[Whistler & Fuller. The Work of Rex Whistler. No. 441; Thomasson. A Curious Friendship. p. 240]
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