SKU: 9778035503

THOMAS, Dylan 18 Poems. London [ The Favil Press for ] The Sunday Referee and The Parton Bookshop. 1934. [ with ] THOMAS, Dylan. Twenty-Five Poems.

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THOMAS, Dylan 18 Poems. London [ The Favil Press for ] The Sunday Referee and The Parton Bookshop. 1934. [ with ] THOMAS, Dylan. Twenty-Five Poems.And Death Shall Have No Dominion THOMAS, Dylan 18 Poems. London [The Favil Press for] The Sunday Referee and The Parton Bookshop. 1934. [with] THOMAS, Dylan. Twenty Five Poems. [Letchworth: Temple Press for] London: J. M. Dent. 1936. 18 Poems: 8vo. Original black cloth, spine lettered in gilt, lacking the dustwrapper; pp. 36, [4]; corners and extremities slightly worn, small chips to three of four corners and head of spine; light spotting to endpapers

‘And Death Shall Have No Dominion’

THOMAS, Dylan 18 Poems. London [The Favil Press for] The Sunday Referee and The Parton Bookshop. 1934. [with] THOMAS, Dylan. Twenty-Five Poems. [Letchworth: Temple Press for] London: J.M. Dent. 1936.

18 Poems: 8vo. Original black cloth, spine lettered in gilt, lacking the dustwrapper; pp. 36, [4]; corners and extremities slightly worn, small chips to three of four corners and head of spine; light spotting to endpapers and half-title, a few isolated marginal spots throughout; a very good copy.

Twenty-Five Poems: 8vo. Original grey boards, sympathetically in pale blue cloth, spine lettered in dark blue in imitation of the original, endpapers and pastedowns renewed, lacking the dust-jacket; pp. vii, [1 (blank)], 47, [1]; light rubbing to edges and extremities, a few marks to boards; a very good copy; presentation inscription to Aubrey Douglas-Smith, dated January 1938 to original front flyleaf.

Both volumes housed in an emerald-green, cloth-covered solander box lettered in gilt to front panel.

First edition, first issue of Dylan Thomas’s debut, 18 Poems, together with a second impression of its successor, Twenty-Five Poems, the latter presented by the author to Aubrey Douglas-Smith.

18 Poems, Thomas’s first book, followed a circuitous route to publication. Leaving the Swansea school where his father taught in 1931, aged sixteen — ‘an undistinguished pupil’ (ODNB) — he found work at the local evening newspaper, contributing on literary matters whenever possible. Already writing poems and consciously cultivating the life of a poet (which, for Thomas, invariably involved alcohol), the notebooks he filled between 1930 and 1934 contain a significant proportion of the poems on which his reputation rests.

‘And death shall have no dominion’, his defiantly resonant refusal of mortality, appeared in the New English Weekly in May 1933, followed that October by ‘The Force that through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower’ in The Sunday Referee, a poem central to 18 Poems and which encapsulates Thomas’ preoccupation with ‘the pantheistic union of man and nature’ (Christie). Appearing on 29th Oct. 1933, the poem won the annual prize for poetry awarded by the paper, part of which consisted of publication, under the aegis of the Referee, of a book of the winning poet’s work. These early poems had also attracted the attention of T. S. Eliot and Stephen Spender, the former considering Thomas for his Faber list. The book was eventually issued jointly by the press at the Parton Bookshop and The Sunday Referee. Run by David Archer – ‘the effete left-leaning scion of a Wiltshire landowner’ (Ferris) – the bookshop at 2 Parton Street, between Southampton Row and Red Lion Square, was a gathering place for young writers and poets, George Barker and David Gascoyne among them.

Although 18 Poems proved both a critical and commercial success, Thomas remained dissatisfied with his publisher. Writing to George Reavey in 1938, he complained that he had ‘lost badly on that book, owing to my ignorance & Archer’s vagueness: I was given, in small irregular sums […], no more than £4 or £5, and have not received a halfpenny royalty although the book, for poetry has sold […] remarkably well.’ Five hundred sets of sheets of the volume were printed, bound in two issues of two hundred and fifty copies; this copy is the first state with flat spine, untrimmed upper and fore-edges and lacking the extra sheet between half title and title page.

By the time Dent ‘t[ook] him by surprise’ (Lycett) by publishing Twenty-Five Poems in 1936, Thomas’s work was selling in greater numbers: the first impression of 750 copies sold quickly and was followed by three further impressions. This copy of the second impression was inscribed by Thomas in 1938 to Aubrey Douglas-Smith (1899–1963), later the author of Guilty Germans? (Left Book Club, 1942; subsequently issued in a Gollancz trade edition). Thomas may have known Douglas-Smith through the Parton Bookshop circle (the shop closed in 1939, a year after the present inscription). The poet’s political sympathies were firmly with the radical left, without, it seems, formally joining any party or group.

Rolph B. 1(a), B. 3. See Christie, Dylan Thomas: A Literary Life (2014); Ferris, Dylan Thomas: The Biography (1999); Lycett, Dylan Thomas: A New Life (2003); Ferris ed., Dylan Thomas: The Collected Letters (1985).

SKU: 2124733

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Kissezamour
New York, US
★★★★★ 5
Love it !!!!
Color: White, Style: Wall Cabinet, Color: White, Style: Wall Cabinet
I absolutely love this cabinet. It’s super well-made easy to put together and the space is great. I’ve already received some compliments. Thought it would guests. Come to my home. Just look at how nice it pairs with my bathroom. The handles are sturdy. There’s also a nice tag inside with the company’s name. If you’re looking for a bathroom cabinet, highly recommended this one is well worth it. Love it!!!
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Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2026
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J. S. Kline
San Leandro, US
★★★★★ 5
Excellent Cabinet for someone good at mounting a cabinet
Color: White, Style: Wall Cabinet
The cabinet arrived very well packaged with an instruction booklet, hardware, and an Allen wrench. The booklet says you will just need a Phillips screwdriver, but you will also need a drill with an appropriate bit (more on the bit later) to mount the cabinet on the wall. Assembling the cabinet was simplified by how well the cabinet pieces and hardware were labeled and referenced in the instruction booklet. The holes in all the cabinet parts lined up nicely. The doors swing on spring loaded pivots. They are not adjustable, but work well and are probably much less expensive than European style hinges. I was concerned that the doors would not line up, but they look fine. The Magnetic Latch also works well, but the little piece of wood that it mounts on fell off during assembly so I glued it back in place. This was the only problem I had assembling the cabinet. I let the glue dry overnight and mounted the cabinet the next day. The wood support plate they ship with the cabinet is a great way to hang a cabinet, however I did have some problems using the supplied anchors. I recommend having some other anchors and screws available in case you have similar issues. Skip this paragraph if you do not care about the details: I mounted the cabinet on drywall. The instructions said to drill 11/32” holes for the supplied plastic wall anchors. I did not have an 11/32” bit so I used a 5/16” bit. Even though my holes were 1/32” smaller than specified, the anchors slid into the drywall very easily without having to tap them. I recommend using a 5/16” bit or even a 9/32” bit instead of the 11/32” they specify. Next I mounted the support plate with the supplied screws, but I could not get the screws tight enough to hold the plate securely in place. It felt like the screws were too small in diameter so I used some slightly larger screws. That worked fine for one of the screws holding the plate and the two lower screws, but the second screw through the plate would not bite and hold the plate firmly. Fortunately I had one HILTI 3/16” hollow wall metal anchor left over from a previous project and was able to get the plate very solidly attached to the wall. My wife is very pleased with the cabinet. I did have some trouble with the latch and the install so I was tempted to knock off a star, but I think this is a 5-Star item considering the low cost and how well the the cabinet parts aligned with each other.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2025
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Monica G.
West Palm Beach, US
★★★★★ 5
Love and amazing for the price!
Color: White, Style: Wall Cabinet, Color: White, Style: Wall Cabinet
Perfect! I'm a renter and didn't want to spend an arm and a leg on something that might not work in the next place so this looked like it would be a good fit. I really wasn't expecting much for the price point but I was VERY pleasantly surprised. It's a great piece. I love assembling things (I'm an Ikea pro) but this had literally the easiest and most explicit instructions I have ever seen. Every piece is clearly labeled. The hardware comes in a bubble pack, again clearly labeled. Rhe instructions are very clear. Another thing I appreciated was the mounting mechanism which is a French cleat. It is much easier to level and screw in a cleat than to recruit help and try to hold a cabinet in place and try screwing it in. I'm a fat middle age woman and I had no problem mounting it by myself. Notice there are no screws visible on the outside. That was a huge selling point for me. Only con is that for the quality of everything else, the shelves are on the thin side, placing anything substantial would definitely make them bow. Background is a scrap of peel-and-stick.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2026
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Ken
Chelsea, US
★★★★★ 5
Good cabinet choice
Color: White, Style: Wall Cabinet
I needed a wall cabinet for a recessed area above the toilet. This one fits the area perfectly and provides a good amount of storage in an otherwise wasted space. It looks good as it coordinates well with my white shaker style cabinets elsewhere in the room. It was easy to assemble, doors lined up perfectly, and mounting was a breeze with the included screws and hardware. It doesn't get hard use in this location, but seems sturdy after almost a year.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2025
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HarmonTeach
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 5
Easy to assemble and install
Color: White, Style: Wall Cabinet, Color: White, Style: Wall Cabinet
This cabinet meets our need for more bathrooms storage without interfering with the space in our smallish bathroom. The package arrived well packed in cardboard with foam inserts to protect the parts from damage in transit. I was able to easily follow the included directions with minimal fuss. In several cases, extra hardware piece were included, which I really appreciated. The quality of the construction was excellent. The only this that concerned me was the weight bearing capability of the included shelves. I added a few liquid or lotion filled bottles and noticed the shelves sagging, so I may have to cut my own shelves to better support. The cabinet looks great and is exactly as pictured in the listing after I assembled it. The ability to customize the shelves is also helpful. I looked at several cabinets for this purpose, some more expensive, some less, and I am happy with the money spent for this cabinet.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2025

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