A.E. Song and its Fountains. [WITH HAND COLOURED SKETCH BY THE AUTHOR]

New York: Macmillan and Co., 1932. First US edition. Crown octavo. pp. [viii], 133, [1]. Blue cloth, title in gilt on upper cover and on spine. With a magnificent crayon drawing by AE of a mountain scene with a young lady looking down. Signed and initialled by AE. Wear to spine-ends. A very good copy.
George Russell (1867-1935) was born in Lurgan, County Armagh, where his father was a book-keeper. The family moved to Dublin, and George attended the Metropolitan School of Art, where W.B. Yeats was a classmate and became a lifelong friend. He became interested in rural co-operation, and divided his time between organisation, poetry and painting. He also edited the Irish Homestead, organ of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society, and later his own weekly journal the Irish Statesman. A pacifist and mystic, much influenced by Hindu spirituality, he wrote several powerful essays during the great Dublin strike of 1913 in defence of the rights of labour.
A delightful item. AE's drawing is in excellent condition.