[DE LA MARE, WALTER. SONGS OF CHILDHOOD. By Walter Ramal. Frontispiece. 12mo, original parchment-backed cloth, gilt-decorated, light

soiling; cloth folding case. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1902 FIRST EDITION of the author's first book. PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED WITH A HOLOGRAPH POEM entitled "Gone," on the front free endpaper. The poem begins: "Where's the Queen of Sheba? / Where King Solomon? / Gone with Boy Blue who looks after the sheep,/ Gone & gone & gone." INSCRIBED at the end, "Walter de la Mare for J. N. Hart with his best wishes. Jan. 1942." This poem appears as the final poem in Bells and Grass (1941). Laid in is an Autograph Letter Signed, from De La Mare to Hart, discussing the inscription and updating him on personal matters. 2 pages, oblong 12mo. 8 January 1942.