Difficult Morning (The Gateway Poets)

London: Methuen & Co Ltd, 1933. First edition. Good. 40pp. Slim duodecimo [19 cm] Bluish-gray paper over thin card boards, with a paper title label on the front board. Backstrip absent. Faded at the edges. No dust jacket. Ex-libris English poet, David Emery Gascoyne (1916-2001), with his inscription in pencil on the front free endsheet. His first collection of poetry, "Roman Balcony and Other Poems," was published when he was just sixteen. Gascoyne was deeply influenced by the French Surrealist movement of the 1930s, and, through his translations of works by Salvador Dalí and André Breton, along with his critical writings, he did much to spread the movement in Britain. His works, "Man's Life is this Meat" (1936) and "Requiem" (1950), were met with critical success, and he was awarded the the 'Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" in 1996. (Information from Britannica.com and National Portrait Gallery website). An acclaimed collection by Randall Swingler and part of The Gateway Poets series. Randall Swingler (1909-1967) was considered one of the leading figures in the cultural life of the Communist Party, which he joined in 1935. Among his accomplishments, Swingler was an editor for the magazines "Left Review" and the "Daily Worker. (Inventory #: 67825)