ANARCHIST MYSTICISM

Read, Herbert (1893–1968)

The Green Child [Allegory, British Literature]

New York: New Directions, 1948. First American Edition.

A philosophical fable of the inner world. Herbert Read’s only novel, originally published in London in 1935, is here presented in its first American appearance. Blending mysticism, anarchist thought, and psychological allegory, The Green Child is a central text in Read’s career as a cultural theorist and poet.

KEY FEATURES
+++ Designer: Features the iconic abstract dust jacket by Alvin Lustig. Includes the first appearance of the introduction by Kenneth Rexroth. 
+++ Publisher: Issued by New Directions, a leader in the mid-century American modernist movement. 
+++ Imprint: New Directions, New York, 1948. +++ Specs: Octavo; 8 inches tall; 194 pages.

CONDITION: Very Good in a Good+ Jacket.
+++ The Book: Bindings are tight and square in original blue cloth. The text block is clean with light, even age-toning.
+++ The Jacket: Housed in the original Lustig-designed dust jacket. The jacket is notoriously fragile; this specimen shows moderate edge wear and small closed tears. Minor chipping noted at the extremities, but remains a very presentable and bright example of this classic design.

SCHOLARLY FEATURES
+++ Allegorical Depth: Explores the tension between the material world and a subterranean, mystical utopia.
+++ Political Subtext: Reflects Read's unique brand of 'aesthetic anarchism' and his search for a harmonious social order.
+++ Design History: Lustig’s jacket for this title is a primary example of his 'New Directions' style, which moved book design away from literal illustration toward conceptual abstraction.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE —
Herbert Read was a titan of 20th-century criticism, and The Green Child was his attempt to synthesize his complex theories on art and politics into narrative form. While the British edition established its literary merit, this 1948 New Directions edition solidified its status within the international avant-garde. The pairing of Read’s text with Rexroth’s commentary and Lustig’s visuals makes this edition the definitive aesthetic statement of the work for the American market.

Herbert Read was a British poet, critic, and philosopher. His work represents a unique British synthesis of Romanticism and Modernism that found a second, highly influential home in the American small-press movement of the mid-20th century.

SUBJECTS: Anarchist Thought, Mysticism, Identity, Modernism, New Directions Press, Alvin Lustig Design, Modernist Literature, Philosophical Fiction, Allegory, British Literature.

Item #21911

Price: $85.00