One of 1,000 Copies Signed by Graves and Reproduced from His Own Manuscripts
GRAVES, Robert. Love Respect Again. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1969. First American edition. One of 1,000 numbered copies signed by Robert Graves, this copy numbered 611. The poems and much of the preliminary matter reproduced directly from the author's handwritten manuscripts and accompanied by illustrations by Aemilia Laracuen. Publisher's original illustrated boards.
Robert Graves belonged to that rare class of twentieth-century writers for whom poetry was not merely a literary occupation but a governing principle of life. Best known to many readers for I, Claudius and The White Goddess, Graves remained throughout his career first and foremost a poet.
Published in 1969, Love Respect Again offers an unusually intimate encounter with that poetic practice. Rather than presenting the poems in conventional typography, the volume reproduces them directly from Graves's own manuscripts. The reader therefore encounters not only the poems themselves but the visual evidence of their creation: the movement of the hand, the spacing of the lines, and the distinctive character of the author's script.
The Poet's Hand
Most printed poetry inevitably creates distance between writer and reader. Manuscript facsimiles do the opposite.
The poems in Love Respect Again were handwritten specifically for this project and reproduced lithographically from the original manuscripts. The result occupies an intriguing space between book and manuscript, preserving something of the immediacy that is usually lost in the transition from page to print.
For collectors of modern literature, the volume offers a rare opportunity to encounter Graves not only as poet but as working craftsman of language.
Love and Late Graves
By the time this volume appeared, Graves had established himself as one of the defining literary voices of the twentieth century. His work moved effortlessly between poetry, mythology, criticism, history, and fiction, yet certain themes remained constant throughout his career.
Among them was the relationship between love and poetic inspiration.
From his earliest poems to the mythic speculations of The White Goddess, Graves repeatedly returned to love as both creative force and mystery. Love Respect Again belongs to this late phase of his career, when many of these lifelong concerns were distilled into a more personal and reflective form.
Illustration
The manuscript poems are accompanied by lithographically reproduced illustrations by Aemilia Laracuen. Her expressive black-and-white drawings complement the handwritten texts and contribute to the book's distinctive character as both poetry collection and artist's book.
The original illustrated boards continue this visual dialogue and give the volume a striking physical presence.
Condition
A clean and well-preserved copy in the publisher's original illustrated boards. Signed limitation page present. Light signs of age and handling only. Internally fresh and attractive throughout, with the manuscript facsimiles and illustrations particularly well preserved.
