January 2025, Version 1.1

G. Kim Blank, English Department, University of Victoria

Special Collections at the University of Victoria has a complete set of the Christmas-card Ariel Poems, 1927-1931, including the 1954 second series of eight cards.

The 1927-1931 Ariel Poems (numbers 1-38) are printed by the Curwen Press, Plaistow (East London); the 1954 Ariel Poems—designated as the “new series”—are printed by Jesse Broad & Co, Manchester. Numbers 1-17 (1927, 1928) are published by Faber & Gywer; the remainder are published by Faber & Faber. The 1927 limited edition cards announced that "This edition on Zanders' hand-made | paper is limited to 350 copies | This is No. [hand printed number]." After 1927, Zanders as a supplier of fine paper (a German company) is dropped; subsequently, beginning at card number 9, the following appears: "This large-paper edition, printed | on English hand-made paper, is | limited to five hundred copies | This is number [hand-printed number followed by signature]." The 1954 Ariel cards are not published as a limited (signed and numbered) edition.

The trade version of the Ariel Christmas-card poems were printed in runs of 3000-5000 copies. The limited editions (large-size format) normally printed between 250-500 copies. ~ The 1927 limited edition cards (nos. 1-8) were all printed in runs of 350 copies, unsigned and unnumbered. For copyright reasons, 1927 cards were also published in the US in a run of twenty-seven copies by William Edwin Rudge (New York), but were announced as "twelve copies only for sale." ~ The 1928 limited edition of Ariel Poems (nos. 9-17) printed runs of 500 copies, signed and numbered. ~ The 1929 limited edition cards—signed and numbered—were printed in various runs: the cards of Yeats (no. 18), de la Mare (no. 20), Stevens (no. 22), and Eliot (no. 23) at 500; the cards of "A.E." (no. 19) and Chesterton (no. 21) at 400; the Quennell (no.24) card was printed in a run of 300. ~ The 1930 limited edition cards were also printed in various runs: the de la Mare card (no. 31) at 500 copies; the Sassoon (no. 27), Lawrence (no. 25), Eliot (no. 29), and Campbell (no. 30) cards were printed in runs of 400; the Chesterton (no. 25) card had 350 copies printed; the Munro card (no. 26) at 250 copies; the Newbolt card (no. 32) at 200 copies. The 1930 cards were all signed and numbered, except for the Lawrence card: he died in the south of France, 2 March 1930, aged 44. ~ The 1931 cards were likewise printed in various numbers: the Sassoon card, 400 (no. 34); the Eliot (no. 35) and Campbell (no. 38) cards, at 300; the de la Mare (no. 33) card, 275 cards; the Sitwell (no. 36) card, at 250; and the Sackville (no. 37) card, 200 copies. ~ The 1954 "new series" cards were not printed in limited or numbered editions. Each card was unpaginated, sewn binding and printed card covers, with both colour and black and white illustrations; each card came with different coloured and printed envelopes, with the price indicated at 2 shillings.

Further Information:

~ For 1927 and 1930, eight Ariel cards are published; for 1928, nine cards; for 1929, seven; for 1931, six.

~ Poets with multiple Ariel cards: T. S. Eliot and Walter de la Mare, six; Siegfried Sassoon, four; G. K. Chesterton and Roy Campbell, three; Harold Munro, Elizabeth Sitwell, and Henry Newbolt, all two.

~ Artists with illustrations on more than one Ariel card: Albert Rutherston and E. McKnight Kauffer, four; Barnett Freedman, David Jones, Althea Willoughby, and Stephen Tennant, three; Blair Hughes-Stanton, Paul Nash, and Edward Bawden, two. Edward Bawden is the only artist to appear in both the first and second series of cards.

~ E. (Edward) McKnight Kauffer provides illustrations for four of Eliot's cards: The Journey of the Magi (1927), A Song for Simeon (1928), Marina (1930), and Triumphal March (1931). Like Eliot, Kauffer was an American expatriate and midwesterner. Kauffer is a well-known modernist illustrator at the time—known mainly for his striking poster work (including many for the London Underground), book illustration, and advertising. Kauffer and Eliot came to know each other, and they socialized reasonably frequently through the 1930s into the 1940s. Kauffer also took some formal photographs of Eliot.

~ Eliot and Walter de la Mare are the only poets with cards in both series and in every year.

~ Faber & Faber reissue some of the unsold Ariel Poems in 1938.

The Ariel Poems, in order:

1. Yuletide in a Younger World by Thomas Hardy, “drawings” by Albert Rutherston (1927)

2. The Linnet’s Nest by Henry Newbolt, “drawings” by Ralph Keene (1927)

3. The Wonder Night by Laurence Binyon, “drawings” by Barnett Freedman (1927)

4. Alone by Walter de la Mare, “wood engravings” by Blair Hughes-Stanton (1927)

5. Gloria in Profundis by G. K. Chesterton, “wood engravings” by Eric Gill (1927)

6. The Early Whistler by Wilfred Gibson, “drawings” by John Nash (1927)

7. Nativity by Siegfried Sassoon, “designs” by Paul Nash (1927)

8. Journey of the Magi by T. S. Eliot, “drawings” by E. McKnight Kauffer (1927)

9. The Chanty of the Nona, “poem and drawings” by Hilaire Belloc (1928)

10. Moss and Feather by W. H. Davies, “drawings” by William Nicholson (1928)

11. Self to Self by Walter de la Mare, “wood-engravings” by Blair Hughes-Stanton (1928)

12. Troy by Humbert Wolfe, “drawings” by C. [Charles] Ricketts (1928)

13. The Winter Solstice by Harold Monro, “drawings” by David Jones (1928)

14. To My Mother by Siegfried Sassoon, “drawings” by Stephen Tennant (1928)

15. Popular Song by Edith Sitwell, “designs” by Edward Bawden (1928)

16. A Song for Simeon by T. S. Eliot, “drawing” by E. McKnight Kauffer (1928)

17. Winter Nights, a Reminiscence by Edmund Blunden, “drawings” by Albert Rutherston (1928)

18. Three Things by W. B. Yeats, “drawings” by Gilbert Spencer (1929)

19. Dark Weeping by “AE”, “designs” by Paul Nash (1929)

20. A Snowdrop by Walter de la Mare, “drawings” by Claudia Guercio (1929)

21. Ubi Ecclesia by G. K. Chesterton, “drawings” by Diana Murphy (1929)

22. The Outcast by James Stephens, “drawings” by Althea Willoughby (1929)

23. Animula by T. S. Eliot, “wood engravings” by Gertrude Hermes (1929)

24. Inscription on a Fountain-Head by Peter Quennell, “drawings” by Albert Rutherston (1929)

25. The Grave of Arthur by G. K. Chesterton, “drawings” by Celia Fiennes (1930)

26. Elm Angel by Harold Monro, “wood-engravings” by Eric Ravilious (1930)

27. In Sicily by Siegfried Sassoon, “drawings” by Stephen Tennant (1930)

28. The Triumph of the Machine by D. H. Lawrence, “drawings” by Althea Willoughby (1930)

29. Marina by T. S. Eliot, “drawings” by E. McKnight Kauffer (1930)

30. The Gum Trees by Roy Campbell, “drawings” by David Jones (1930)

31. News by Walter de la Mare, “drawings” by Barnett Freedman (1930)

32. A Child is Born by Henry Newbolt, “drawings” by Althea Willoughby (1930)

33. To Lucy by Walter de la Mare, “drawings” by Albert Rutherston (1931)

34. To the Red Rose by Siegfried Sassoon, “drawings” by Stephen Tennant (1931)

35. Triumphal March by T. S. Eliot, “drawings” by E. McKnight Kauffer (1931)

36. Jane Barston 1719–1746 by Edith Sitwell, “drawings” by R. A. Davies (1931)

37. Invitation To Cast Out Care by V. Sackville-West, “drawings” by Graham Sutherland (1931)

38. Choosing A Mast by Roy Campbell, “drawings” by Barnett Freedman (1931)

~ The "new series" 1954 Ariel Poems in the (alphabetized) order as advertised on the back cover of every card:

1. Mountains by W. H. Auden, “illustrated” by Edward Bawden (1954)

2. Nativity by Roy Campbell, “illustrated” by James Sellars (1954)

3. The Winnowing Dream by Walter de la Mare, “illustrated” by Robin Jacques (1954)

4. The Cultivation of Christmas Trees by T. S. Eliot, “illustrated” by David Jones (1954)

5. Christmas Eve by C. Day Lewis, “illustrated” by Edward Ardizzone (1954)

6. The Other Wing by Louis MacNeice, “illustrated” by Michael Ayrton (1954)

7. Prometheus by Edwin Muir, “illustrated” by John Piper (1954)

8. Sirmione Peninsula by Stephen Spender, “illustrated” by Lynton Lamb (1954)