Acquisitions (78): Robert Graves

Robert Graves: The Golden Fleece (1944)

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Robert Graves (1895-1985)


Robert Graves: The Golden Fleece (1944)
[Hospice Bookshop, Birkenhead - 1/11/2022]:

Graves, Robert. The Golden Fleece. Overseas Edition. London: Cassell & Co., Ltd., 1944.

Robert Graves: Hercules My Shipmate (1945)


The Millennium Graves Programme
[Carcanet Press]

The other day I picked up a cheap first edition of one of Robert Graves's more eccentric novels, The Golden Fleece, in a local Hospice Shop. NB: It was also published in the US under the curious title Hercules My Shipmate, so don't be misled into thinking that these are two different novels. The same is true of Seven Days in New Crete (1949), published in America as Watch the North Wind Rise, and (rather more justifiably) Sergeant Lamb of the Ninth (1940), published in the US as Sergeant Lamb’s America.

It did get me thinking about the old man and his legacy. I recently put together a few notes about him in my post on UK War Poets, and I've written other posts about him over the years. You can find a reasonably complete bibliography of his works here. In publishing terms, however, the jewel in his crown would have to be the grandly titled "Millennium Graves Programme." Over a period of roughly fifteen years, from 1995 to 2010, Carcanet Press in Manchester reissued his collected works in 25 volumes.

There are, to be sure, gaps in their coverage: all the major novels are there, along with the short stories and the complete poems, but only a selection of his non-fictional prose is included. But then, I guess that was the point of the whole project: not so much to compile a complete works as a judicious selection of everything that remains of permanent value in Graves's bewilderingly vast oeuvre.

I don't have all the volumes by any means, but I do have (almost) all of their content in one form or another. Here's the list, in chronological order, as it stands at present:

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Robert Graves: Complete Short Stories (1995)

The Robert Graves Programme
[25 vols: 1995-2010]

	Selected Poems Robert Graves Ed. Patrick Quinn	Hardback (Reprinting)
	Collected Writings on Poetry Robert Graves Ed. Patrick Quinn	Hardback (Currently Out of Stock)
	Complete Short Stories Robert Graves Ed. Patrick Quinn	Hardback (Currently Out of Stock)
	Complete Poems Vol I Robert Graves Eds. Beryl Graves and Dunstan Ward	Hardback (Currently Out of Stock)
	The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth Robert Graves Ed. Grevel Lindop	Hardback (Currently Out of Stock)
	Complete Poems Vol II Robert Graves Ed. Patrick Quinn	Hardback £36.00
	I, Claudius and Claudius the God Robert Graves Ed. Patrick Quinn	Hardback (Currently Out of Stock)
	The Sergeant Lamb Novels Robert Graves Ed. Patrick Quinn	Hardback (Currently Out of Stock)
	Complete Poems Vol III Robert Graves Ed. Patrick Quinn	Hardback (Reprinting)
	Some Speculations on Literature, History and Religion Robert Graves Ed. Patrick Quinn	Hardback £31.50

Complete Poems In One Volume Robert Graves Ed. Patrick Quinn Hardback (Reprinting) Greek Myths Robert Graves Ed. Patrick Quinn Hardback (Currently Out of Stock) Homer's Daughter and the Anger of Achilles Robert Graves Ed. Neil Powell Hardback (Currently Out of Stock) Essays From Epilogue 1935-1937 Laura Riding and Robert Graves Ed. Mark Jacobs Paperback £13.45 A Survey of Modernist Poetry Laura Riding and Robert Graves Eds. Patrick McGuinness and Charles Mundye Paperback (Currently Out of Stock) Antigua, Penny, Puce & They Hanged my Saintly Billy Robert Graves Hardback £31.50 The Story of Marie Powell, Wife to Mr Milton & The Islands of Unwisdom Robert Graves Hardback £31.50 The Golden Fleece & Seven Days in New Crete Robert Graves Ed. Patrick Quinn Hardback (Currently Out of Stock) Count Belisarius & Lawrence of the Arabs Robert Graves Ed. Scott Ashley Hardback (Reprinting) The Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis Robert Graves and Raphael Patai Ed. Robert A. Davis
King Jesus and My Head! My Head! Robert Graves Ed. Robert A. Davis Hardback £35.10 The Long Weekend and The Reader over Your Shoulder Robert Graves and Alan Hodge Hardback (Currently Out of Stock) Goodbye to All That and Other Great War Writings Robert Graves Ed. Steven Trout Hardback (Currently Out of Stock) Translating Rome Robert Graves Ed. Robert Cummings Hardback (Reprinting) The Nazarene Gospel Restored Robert Graves and Joshua Podro Ed. John Presley Hardback (Currently Out of Stock)

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Robert Graves: The Complete Poems in One Volume (2000)

And here are some rather more detailed listings, with the date and publication information of each volume. The ones I own are marked with an asterisk, and my own copies are listed in bold beneath:

The Millennium Graves Programme
Programme editor: Patrick Quinn

Books I own are marked in bold:

1. Selected Poems. Ed. Patrick Quinn. Carcanet Poetry. Manchester: Carcanet Press, April 1995.


2. *Collected Writings on Poetry. Ed. Paul O'Prey. Lives and Letters. Manchester: Carcanet Press, June 1995.
   • Collected Writings on Poetry. Ed. Paul O'Prey. Robert Graves Programme. Ed. Patrick J. M. Quinn. Manchester: Carcanet Press Limited / Paris: Alyscamps Press, 1995.


3. *Complete Short Stories. Ed. Lucia Graves. Carcanet Fiction. Manchester: Carcanet Press, September 1995.
   • Complete Short Stories. Ed. Lucia Graves. 1995. London: Penguin, 2008.


4. *Complete Poems Vol I: 1914-1927. Ed. Beryl Graves & Dunstan Ward. Carcanet Poetry. Manchester: Carcanet Press, November 1995.
   • Complete Poems, Volume 1. Ed. Beryl Graves & Dunstan Ward. Manchester & Paris: Carcanet & Alyscamp Press, 1995.


5. *The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth. 1948. Ed. Grevel Lindop. Lives and Letters. Manchester: Carcanet Press, October 1997.
   • The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth. 1948. Amended and Enlarged Edition. 1961. Ed. Grevel Lindop. 1997. London: Faber, 1999.
   • The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth. 1948. Amended and Enlarged Edition. 1961. London: Faber, 1977.


6. *Complete Poems Vol II: 1927-1942. Ed. Beryl Graves & Dunstan Ward. Carcanet Poetry. Manchester: Carcanet Press, October 1997.
   • Complete Poems, Volume 2. Ed. Beryl Graves & Dunstan Ward. Manchester: Carcanet Press Limited, 1997.


7. I, Claudius & Claudius the God. 1934. Ed. Richard Francis. Carcanet Fiction. Manchester: Carcanet Press, November 1998.
   • I, Claudius: From the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius. 1934. London: Arthur Barker Limited, 1936.
   • Claudius the God and his Wife Messalina. 1934. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1947.


8. The Sergeant Lamb Novels. ['Sergeant Lamb of the Ninth', 1940; 'Proceed, Sergeant Lamb', 1941]. Ed. Patrick Quinn. Carcanet Fiction. Manchester: Carcanet Press, September 1999.
   • Sergeant Lamb of the Ninth. 1940. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1945.
   • Proceed, Sergeant Lamb. 1941. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1946.


9. *Complete Poems Vol III: 1942-1975. Ed. Beryl Graves & Dunstan Ward. Carcanet Poetry. Manchester: Carcanet Press, November 1999.
   • Complete Poems, Volume 3. Ed. Beryl Graves & Dunstan Ward. Manchester: Carcanet Press Limited, 1999.


10. *Some Speculations on Literature, History and Religion. Ed. Patrick Quinn. Lives and Letters. Manchester: Carcanet Press, August 2000.
    • Some Speculations on Literature, History and Religion. Ed. Patrick Quinn. Robert Graves Programme. Ed. Patrick J. M. Quinn. Manchester: Carcanet Press Limited, 2000.


11. *Complete Poems In One Volume. Ed. Beryl Graves & Dunstan Ward. Carcanet Poetry. Manchester: Carcanet Press, December 2000.
    • The Complete Poems in One Volume. Ed. Beryl Graves & Dunstan Ward. 2000. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2003.


12. Greek Myths. 1955. Ed. Patrick Quinn. Lives and Letters. Manchester: Carcanet Press, July 2001.
    • Greek Myths. 1955. Rev. ed. London: Cassell & Company Ltd., 1958.
    • The Greek Myths. 2 vols. 1955. Rev. ed. 1958. Rev. ed. 1960. Pelican Books. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1978.
    • The Greek Myths. 2 vols. 1955. Rev. ed. 1958. Rev. ed. 1960. Introduction by Kenneth McLeish. Illustrations by Grahame Baker. 1996. London: The Folio Society, 2000.


13. Homer's Daughter & The Anger of Achilles. 1955 & 1960. Ed. Neil Powell. Carcanet Fiction. Manchester: Carcanet Press, July 2001.
    • Homer's Daughter. London: Cassell & Company Ltd., 1955.
    • The Anger of Achilles: Homer’s Iliad. Trans. Robert Graves. London: Cassell, 1960.


14. *[with Laura Riding] Essays From Epilogue 1935-1937. Ed. Mark Jacobs. Carcanet Poetry. Manchester: Carcanet Press, August 2001.
    • [with Laura Riding]. Essays From 'Epilogue' 1935-1937. Ed. Mark Jacobs. Manchester: Carcanet Press Limited, 2001.


15. [with Laura Riding] A Survey of Modernist Poetry & A Pamphlet Against Anthologies. 1928. Ed. Patrick McGuinness & Charles Mundye. Lives and Letters. Manchester: Carcanet Press, September 2002.


16. *Antigua, Penny, Puce & They Hanged my Saintly Billy. 1937 & 1957. Ed. Ian McCormick. Carcanet Fiction. Manchester: Carcanet Press, January 2003.
    • ‘Antigua, Penny, Puce’ and They Hanged My Saintly Billy. 1936 & 1957. Ed. Ian McCormick. Robert Graves Programme. Ed. Patrick J. M. Quinn. Manchester: Carcanet Press Limited, 2003.
    • ‘Antigua, Penny, Puce’. 1936. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1968.
    • They Hanged My Saintly Billy. 1957. A Grey Arrow. London: Arrow Books Limited, 1962.


17. The Story of Marie Powell, Wife to Mr Milton & The Islands of Unwisdom. 1943 & 1949. Ed. Simon Brittan. Carcanet Fiction. Manchester: Carcanet Press, January 2003.
    • Wife to Mr Milton: The Story of Marie Powell. 1943. Chicago: Academy Chicago Limited, 1979.
    • The Isles of Unwisdom. 1949. London: Readers Union / Cassell & Company Ltd., 1952.


18. The Golden Fleece & Seven Days in New Crete. 1944 & 1949. Ed. Patrick Quinn. Carcanet Fiction. Manchester: Carcanet Press, February 2004.
    • The Golden Fleece. Overseas Edition. London: Cassell & Co., Ltd., 1944.
    • The Golden Fleece. 1944. London: Hutchinson & Co (Publishers) Ltd., 1983.
    • Seven Days in New Crete: A Novel. London: Cassell & Company Limited, 1949.
    • Seven Days in New Crete. 1949. Introduction by Martin Seymour-Smith. Twentieth-Century Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983.


19. Count Belisarius & Lawrence and the Arabs. 1938 & 1927. Ed. Scott Ashley. Carcanet Fiction. Manchester: Carcanet Press, June 2004.
    • Count Belisarius. 1938. London: Cassell & Co. Ltd., 1962.
    • Count Belisarius. 1938. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1954.
    • Lawrence and the Arabs. Illustrations ed. Eric Kennington. Maps by Herry Perry. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd., 1927.


20. [with Raphael Patai] The Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis. 1964. Ed. Robert A. Davis. Lives and Letters. Manchester: Carcanet Press, May 2005.
    • [with Raphael Patai]. Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis. 1964. An Arena book. London: Arrow Books Limited, 1989.


21. King Jesus & My Head! My Head!. 1946 & 1925. Ed. Robert A. Davis. Lives and Letters. Manchester: Carcanet Press, February 2006.
    • King Jesus. London: Cassell & Company Ltd., 1946.
    • King Jesus. 1946. London: Hutchinson & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1983.
    • [My Head! My Head! Being the History of Elisha and the Shulamite Woman; with the History of Moses as Elisha related it, and her Questions put to him. London: Martin Secker, 1925.]


22. [with Alan Hodge] The Long Weekend & The Reader over Your Shoulder. 1940 & 1943. Ed. Michelle Ephraim. Lives and Letters. Manchester: Carcanet Press, December 2006.
    • [with Alan Hodge]. The Long Weekend: A Social History of Great Britain, 1918-1939. 1940. London: Readers’ Union Limited, 1941.
    • [with Alan Hodge]. The Reader Over Your Shoulder: A Handbook for Writers of English Prose. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd., 1943.


23. Goodbye to All That & Other Great War Writings ['Goodbye to All That', 1929; 'Postscript to Goodbye to All That', 1930; 'But It Still Goes On: A Play in Three Acts', 1930]. Ed. Steven Trout. Carcanet Fiction. Manchester: Carcanet Press, Dec 2007.
    • Good-bye to All That: An Autobiography. 1929. London: Jonathan Cape, 1929.
    • Goodbye to All That: New edition, revised, with a prologue and epilogue. 1929. London: Cassell & Company Ltd, 1957.
    • Good-bye to All That: An Autobiography. 1929. Ed. Richard Perceval Graves. Providence, RI & Oxford, UK: Berghahn Books, 1995.
    • 'But It Still Goes On' (1930). Included in: Occupation: Writer. London: Cassell & Company Ltd., 1951.


24. Translating Rome [Apuleius: 'The Golden Ass', 1950; Lucan: 'Pharsalia', 1956; Suetonius: 'The Twelve Caesars', 1957]. Ed. Robert Cummings. Carcanet Poetry. Manchester: Carcanet Press, Jan 2010.
    • Apuleius, Lucius. The Transformations of Lucius, Otherwise Known as The Golden Ass. Trans. Robert Graves. 1950. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1950.
    • Lucan. Pharsalia: Dramatic Incidents of the Civil Wars. Trans. Robert Graves. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1956.
    • Suetonius Tranquillus, Gaius. The Twelve Caesars. Trans. Robert Graves. 1957. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1962.


25. [with Joshua Podro] The Nazarene Gospel Restored. 1953. Ed. John Presley. Carcanet Fiction. Manchester: Carcanet Press, Dec 2010.
    • [with Joshua Podro]. The Nazarene Gospel Restored. London: Cassell & Company Limited, 1953.

Graves & Podro: The Nazarene Gospel Restored (1953 / 2010)

You'll observe that the only substantive material missing from this list is the joint Robert Graves / Laura Riding volume containing their Survey of Modernist Poetry & Pamphlet Against Anthologies (both published in 1928).

I'm still on the lookout for that, but at present it's actually easier to buy first editions of the original books than this now quite scarce Carcanet edition. The same is true of The Nazarene Gospel Restored, above: there are far more copies of the 1953 first edition available online than there are of the Carcanet one.

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Graves & Riding: A Survey of Modernist Poetry (1928 / 2002)

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• category - English Poetry (post-1900): Alphabetical

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