Description

Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, 1927. Small (4.24 x 6") stiff leather covered card-stock covers in maroon with gold-stamped water lily on front and gold lettering on spine. In good+ condition. Small nick to top edge of front cover and light overall scuffing to leather along edges of covers. Binding tight. Previous owner's gift inscription dated Dec 25 / 27 on front free end paper. Otherwise pages are lightly aged but otherwise unmarked. NOT illustrated. NOT Ex-Library. NO remainder marks. Originally published in 1901 under the title "The Garden of Kama" this book of lyric poetry was written by Adela Florence Nicolson under the pseudonym Laurence Hope. The poems were presented as translations of Indian poets by a man, as Nicolson thought the book would receive much more attention than it would likely have done if she had published it under her own name. In this collection, mainly about unrequited love and less, Nicolson makes liberal use of the imagery and symbols from the poets of the North-West Frontier of India and the Sufi poets of Persia. The book was praised upon its release by many prominent poets, Thomas Hardy among them, although some reviewers were uncertain about the authenticity of the translations. The book was published in America in 1927 as India's Love Lyrics.