William Empson — Some Versions of Pastoral

London, Chatto and Windus , 1935. First edition. Cloth. A review copy of this very scarce first edition, being an authoritative discussion of the pastoral form by William Empson. A review copy of the very scarce first edition. With the very scarce unclipped dust wrapper. A very smart copy of this exploration into the various ways in which the pastoral form has been used in English literature. From William Empson, an English literary critic who was widely influential for his practice of closely reading literary works, a practice fundamental to the development of New Criticism. This work follows his 'Seven Types of Ambiguity', one of the most important critical works of the 20th century. In the original cloth binding. With the original unclipped dust wrapper. Externally, very smart, with light rubbing and bumping to the extremities. A couple small marks to the boards. Dust wrapper is sunned to the spine and chipped to the extremities, including to the spine head and rear panel. With worming also visible to the rear. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are generally bright and clean, with minor offsetting to the endpapers only. Very Good Indeed . Ill.: None. Very Good Indeed/Good Only.