The River Girl

First edition. 8vo. Pp. [iv], 53, [5 (blank)]. Blue cloth boards, lettered and ruled in off-white to spine. B/w brushstroke illustrations, some full page, by Nicholas Garland. The scarce hardbound issue, published simultaneously with the trade paper edition.

Toning to textblock edges, due to poor quality paper used, else Fine.

Author's second book of poetry. A narrative poem, consisting of 132 four-line stanzas, commissioned for performance by the Movingstage Marionette Company. It tells the story of Isis, adopted daughter of Father Thames, and her love for a young, mortal poet. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Cope was the listeners' choice in a BBC Radio 4 poll to succeed Ted Hughes as Poet Laureate in 1998. She was awarded an OBE in 2010.