A Map of Verona Poems Henry Reed 1946 Jonathan Cape Dust Jacket
 
Title & Bibliographic Details
 
Title: A Map of Verona: Poems
Author: Henry Reed
Edition: Second Impression (June 1946)
Publisher: Jonathan Cape, London
Printer: Alden Press, Oxford
Binder: A. W. Bain & Co. Ltd., London
First Published: March 1946
 
This copy represents the second impression issued just three months after the first edition, reflecting the immediate interest generated by Reed’s debut poetry collection.
 
Literary Context
 
A Map of Verona is the first published poetry collection by Henry Reed and established his reputation as one of the most technically accomplished British poets of the wartime generation.
 
The volume includes poems drawing on:
classical myth 
wartime experience 
medieval legend 
modernist influence 
 
Reed’s blank verse shows the influence of T. S. Eliot while retaining an individual lyrical clarity that distinguished him among mid-twentieth-century British poets.
 
Contemporary reception was notably strong, with New Statesman and Nation praising the collection as “a remarkable first volume.”
 
About the Author
 
Henry Reed (1914–1986) was a British poet, translator, playwright, and radio dramatist best known for his wartime Hilda Tablet radio series and for the celebrated poem sequence Lessons of the War.
 
Although he published comparatively little poetry, Reed is widely regarded as one of the most refined stylists of his generation, and A Map of Verona remains his most important early collection.
 
Dust Jacket & Binding Condition
 
Retains the original publisher’s illustrated dust jacket.
 
Dust jacket condition:
price-clipped at inner flap corners 
light edge wear 
small tears at head of spine 
minor handling marks 
structurally complete and attractive 
 
Boards beneath:
Original green cloth binding
 
Features:
silver lettering to spine 
bright cloth surface 
only light edge wear 
slight spine lean 
 
A well-preserved example of a scarce early Reed jacketed volume.
 
Interior Condition
 
Interior remains in very good clean condition overall:
light tanning consistent with paper stock 
foxing to endpapers and early leaves 
occasional small marks elsewhere 
no tears or creasing 
Binding tight and secure throughout
 
Pagination:
All 59 pages present and complete
 
Presentation inscription:
“Mary, with love and greetings for Christmas, from Martha. 1947.”
A typical early post-war gift inscription reflecting the book’s original readership context.
 
Physical Details
 
Pagination: 59 pages
Binding: Publisher’s green cloth
Dust Jacket: Present (clipped)
Dimensions: 20.5 cm × 14.1 cm × 0.7 cm
Weight: approx. 143 g
 
Rarity & Collector Notes
 
Second impressions issued within months of first publication are considered early issue copies and remain desirable to collectors of twentieth-century British poetry.
Collector appeal includes:
✔ same-year impression as first edition
✔ original dust jacket present
✔ Jonathan Cape literary publication
✔ Reed’s debut poetry collection
✔ post-war literary context
Early Reed material appears less frequently in jacketed condition than later reprints.