The Literary Work Of John Sutton
Edited by Professor Sir Harrison Moore
Published by Melbourne University Press: Melbourne 1925 1st Edition
Original Hardcover Bindings With Frontis
"Published by Melbourne University Press in 1925, The Literary Work of John Sutton is a posthumous collection of the writings of John Hugh Sutton, a gifted young Melbourne author who was killed in a tragic accident at only nineteen years of age. Edited by Professor Sir Harrison Moore, Professor C. A. Scutt and R. P. Franklin, the volume was assembled both as a memorial to Sutton and as a record of the considerable literary promise he had displayed during his brief life.
The collection brings together Sutton's poetry, short fiction, essays and translations, revealing an unusually broad range of interests and a maturity beyond his years. Its contents include reflective and lyrical poems, imaginative prose pieces such as "A Night of Stars," "A Sceptic's Story" and "Sacrifice," a prize essay, and translations from works by Charles Kingsley and Rudyard Kipling. Themes of beauty, classical culture, youth, love, mortality and the passage of time recur throughout, while the editors' foreword provides valuable biographical context concerning Sutton's upbringing, education and early literary development.
This scarce Australian first edition was wholly typeset and printed in Melbourne by Brown, Prior & Co. for Melbourne University Press. It retains its original two-tone hardcover binding with decorative dark spine and printed paper title label, and contains a frontispiece portrait of John Hugh Sutton reproduced from the memorial bust by noted Australian sculptor C. Web Gilbert. An uncommon piece of interwar Australian literary history, the volume preserves the work of a young writer whose developing career was brought to a tragically premature end."
Light wear to the cover and spine with a couple of stains on back cover. Very small contemporary inscription. Light spotting to prelims otherwise pages clean and well presented. A nice copy in good to very good condition overall. Please study photos to further understand condition.
Size 20.5cm x 13.5cm x 2cm - 123 Pages
