Accession Number
2011/1.125

Title
Auden Poems/Moore Lithographs: Selections from Poems by Auden/Lithographs by Henry Moore

Artist(s)
Henry Moore; Wystan H. Auden

Object Creation Date
1973

Medium & Support
lithographs on Hodgkinson paper, in linen book and box

Dimensions
16 1/2 in x 13 1/2 in x 2 in (41.91 cm x 34.29 cm x 5.08 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Corrine Lemberg

Subject matter
This book of assorted poems by the Pulitzer Prize winning British-American poet W. H. Auden is accompanied by lithographs designed especially for the project by British sculptor Henry Moore. While at Oxford, Auden studied the modernist poetry of R.S. Eliot and became a prominent member of the "Oxford Group," later called the "Auden Group." Some of the poems included in this text are from this early moment, while others are from his more mature work after he became an American citizen. The texts spanning the poet's lifetime were selected by Nikos Strangos with the consent of the poet and his publisher, Faber & Faber, London.
Henry Moore drew the accompanying images in response to the choosen poems between February and December of 1973. Auden died during this process Sept. 29, 1973 and the edition page incudes an in memoriam, with "In memory of Wystan Auden" written in Moore's hand on one page and caricatures of the poet by Moore on the facing page and the writing "Wystan Auden Sept 30th/73," incorrectly marking the date of his passage – both printed in lithograph. This is one of two editions of the book. There was one (Edition A) printed for the European market and one (Edition B) printed for the American one. Included with each book edition, four loose leaf lithographs were included in a slipcase – different for each edition. For this edition, the works "Multitude II" (2011/1.121), "Thin-lipped Armourer II" (2011/1.123), "Fjord" (2011/1.122) and "Forest" (2011/1.124) were included. In addition to the book/slipcase editions, there was a third edition of eighteen loose lithographs, signed and dated. Seven of these works were not included in the other two editions but as the description in this book tells: "They are, however, an intrinsic part of the project."

Physical Description
Box containing dark green linen book with the words "Auden Poems/Moore Lithographs" on the cover. Inside the book, there is text with twenty-three accompanying lithographic images. Numbered 53/150.

Primary Object Classification
Bound Work

Primary Object Type
book

Additional Object Classification(s)
Mixed Media

Additional Object Classification(s)
Print

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
books
collaboration
poetry
title pages