It is forty years since the death of Mervyn Peake (1911-68), the author
of the much-loved Gormenghast novels. To mark the anniversary this first
comprehensive edition of Peake's poetry is published. It includes every
black-and-white illustration he made for his verse, together with many
previously unpublished drawings. Of the more than 230 poems in the
collection, over 80 are printed for the first time. Robert Maslen's
detailed work on the manuscripts reveals the poems as a dazzling link
between the fantasy world of Gormenghast and the narrative of Peake's
own life and of the turbulent times he lived in.
Peake emerges as a compelling poet, with an acute sense of his
responsibilities as an artist, passionately engaged with current events,
from unemployment in the 1930s to the horrors of the London Blitz and
the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen. He is also a fine love-poet and
a sensitive observer of the human form. Readers who love the world of
Peake's novels, and those who are new to his work, will discover here
one of the great originals of the twentieth century.
Cover painting Mervyn Peake, The Glassblower. Presented to Manchester
City Galleries by H.M. Government War Artist's Advisory Committee, 1947.
Cover design StephenRaw.com
