5. Anthology. Eight Oxford Poets. Selected by Michael Meyer & Sidney Keyes. George
Routledge & Sons, 1941. First Edition. Wrappers printed in red and yellow. Backstrip
severely worn, else a very good copy. Michael Meyer’s copy, with his ownership signature,
also signed by six of the seven other poets (Michael Meyer also contributes): Sidney Keyes,
John Heath-Stubbs, Drummond Allison, Roy Porter, J.A. Shaw and Gordon Swaine,
excluding only Keith Douglas. £450
Three of the eight, Keyes, Allison and Douglas were killed in action, Meyer losing many of
his best friends in quick succession. In his memoirs, Not Prince Hamlet, Secker & Warburg,
1989, Meyer explains that the idea and choice of contributors were entirely Keyes’ - Philip
Larkin never forgave Keyes for excluding him.