On this, the 111th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania by a German submarine in the early years of the First World War, we launch this boatload of material to commemorate that titanic catastrophe. Our first port of call is with the Roycrofters and Elbert and Alice Hubbard— victims of the disaster—and so a copy of Robert Browning’s
The Last Ride is uncannily emblematic; a
Roycroft-branded autograph book unites the community there in a way that also allows us a glimpse of their talents and camaraderie. Entrenched in subsequent events of the Great War were the poets
Richard Aldington,
David Jones, and
Isaac Rosenberg, all represented here. A British series of
Nursery Rhymes for Fighting Times,
an illustrated French calendar, and a very scarce
portrait of Woodrow Wilson by the American Bernhardt Wall form an alliance of patriotic and unifying images.
On whatever shore you find yourself, we hope something here fills your sails.
Until next time,
P. S. & Co. Rare Books
