HEANEY, Seamus. A Shiver (Limited edition signed by Heaney)

Thame: Clutag Press, 2005. First edition. pp. [20]. Bound in publisher’s rust-coloured card wrappers, lettered in black. Edition limited to 300 numbered copies, this being No. 78. Signed by Seamus Heaney on the title-page. A fine copy.

A beautifully printed limited edition of nine poems by the Nobel Laureate, produced by Clutag Press in association with the Arts Council of Great Britain and Tower Poetry, Christ Church, Oxford. Set in Granjon and printed by The Senecio Press, Charlbury, Oxfordshire, this elegant pamphlet exemplifies Heaney’s late craftsmanship and his enduring concern with memory, labour, and renewal.

The volume includes “Hofn,” “Horace and the Thunder,” “Helmet,” “Testimony: The Ajax Incident,” “Testimony: Anahorish 1944,” “The Aerodrome,” “A Shiver,” “Out of Shot,” and “The Tollund Man in Springtime.” Several of these poems later appeared in District and Circle (2006), but here they first received print form, in a fine press format admired for its simplicity and typographical grace. A desirable signed limited issue, among the most sought-after Clutag Press Heaney publications.

References: Brandes & Durkan D166.