8vo. [xxxiv] 196pp. Original publisher's black cloth boards, lettered in gilt, with the original dustwrapper. Lightly bumped with some further markings and minor smoke damage to the dustwrapper, and top edge of text block – with associated odour. Inscribed on the FFEP: 'To Olwyn with love and gratitude from Keith Feb 2000'. Rear pastedown has five-page references in Olwyn's hand corresponding to marked passages within the text, and the further note 'Brothers - image of modern world dests. of the nat, world Wounded by accusation'. From the estate of Olwyn Hughes, recently dispersed; the smoke damage is the result of an errant cigarette dropped by Olwyn down the back of her sofa, which caused a serious fire.

Keith Sagar (1934-2013) was a literary critic, academic, and frequent correspondent with Ted Hughes for nearly thirty years. Using much of this correspondence, and with contributions from Olwyn Hughes among others, Sagar published this comprehensive study of Ted's life and works in 2000, two years after his death.

Olwyn Hughes (1928-2016) was a translator, agent and literary executor who had worked in Paris for NATO, Martonplay, and King Peter II of Yugoslavia, among others. After the death of her sister-in-law Sylvia Plath, she returned to England to assist her brother, Ted Hughes, raise his young children, though also took over the management of both his career and Plath's literary estate. While she did have some other clients as a literary agent, including Jean Rhys, much of the rest of her life was dedicated to preserving - and defending - both Plath and Hughes.