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A Letter to a Very Young Lady on her Marriage

Christchurch: Caxton Press, 1954. Stk. PR 3724 L4.

During Denis Glover’s 18 year reign at Caxton Press, the literary careers of many New Zealand writers and poets were launched or consolidated. By late 1951, Glover had left and the press was managed by Dennis Donovan, with Glover’s old partner Leo Bensemann, the Christchurch based artist, musician, illustrator, and typographer. It was Bensemann who had kept Caxton Press afloat during the war years. One deluxe edition of this post-Glover period was Swift’s A Letter to a Very Young Lady, limited to 125 copies and hand-set in Caslon 14 pt. The superb illustration is by Bensemann.