The Aardvark Blog

The Poetry of Ted Hughes
13/08/2016

Putting on a first edition of Ted Hughes 'Moortown' this morning - a long with a group of rather interesting poetry books - made me think about the first of his poems that I read l  'Lupercal'. Containing his trade mark natural references and piercing insights into individual lives, I read it before I had heard of the whole Hughes/Plath story, and the academic industry that it has spawned.

Much later I read the 'Birthday Letters', and his wonderful creative translation 'Tales from Ovid'. Hughes  had several careers, and was a fantastic free translator, broadcaster and cultural critic. The edition of 'Moortown' has a few superb illustrations by Leonard Baskin. Yesterday I sold a much rarer book - Geoffrey Grigson's 'A Poet's Eye' illustrated by the late John Craxton, a marvellous painter who worked in a cubist influenced style all his own. The customer who bought it turned out to be related to Craxton's dealer, and had photographed Craxton towards the end of his life. We had a wonderful conversation, so typical of the many that I have had over the years running Aardvark.

Only a couple of days left to enjoy our current exhibition 'Take Five' - two ceramicists and three painter/ printers. A very powerful exhibition which has been much admired, there are still many fantastic works of art that could be yours for a modest sum.

Looking forward to next weekend 'The History Weekend' combines , talks, models and displays celebrating the Marches, and we are lucky enough to again have the services of Battlefield Historian Martin Hackett all weekend. The talks are free, but do book before you come.

Following the History Weekend we have our Vide Grenier on the Bank Holiday Monday, with over 30 stalls booked, and a rapid return to Aardvark for the 'Vintage Jazz Revival'. There are still spaces for stalls if you would like to book ( the space is £9 only).