Poet Richard Aldington Celebrated in New Exhibition
From the collection of Simon Hewett
Madame Yevonde, portrait of Richard Aldington, c. 1929
An exhibition highlighting the prolific yet largely forgotten British poet, literary critic, translator, novelist, anthologist, and biographer Richard Aldington will open at the Grolier Club next month.
Running September 11 through November 15, Richard Aldington: Versatile Man of Letters will chronicle Aldington’s life and work through more than 100 objects from the collection of Grolier Club member Simon Hewett including first editions, typescripts, letters, photographs, and ephemera.
Aldington (1892–1962) was very much part of British literary culture durng his lifetime. Highlights on view in the exhibition feature his work as a leading member of the Imagist school of poetry, a First World War poet, and the author of Death of a Hero, widely considered one of the best First World War novels. However, his personal life was tempestuous, and his biography of 'Lawrence of Arabia' controversial.
On view in the exhibition is a 1912 photograph of a group of poets at the Peacock Dinner, so named because peacock was served. The lunch was organized by Ezra Pound to honor the poet Wilfred Scawen Blunt and to garner publicity for the Imagists, a new poetic group sponsored by Pound that included Aldington.
Aldington was a prolific poet, and some of the publications on view in the exhibition feature his early work. Des Imagistes (1914) was an Imagist annual organized by Pound, and the first edition included 11 poems by Aldington, more than any other contributor. His first solo poetry collection, Images (1910–1915), was published by Harold Monro’s Poetry Bookshop in December 1915.
1/3
From the collection of Simon Hewett
Richard Aldington. Death of a Hero. London, Chatto & Windus, 1929
2/3
From the collection of Simon Hewett
Richard Aldington. Images (1910-1915). London, The Poetry Bookshop, 1915
3/3
From the collection of Simon Hewett
Richard Aldington, Why I Debunked the Lawrence Legend. Illustrated, London, February 5, 1955
Aldington enlisted in the British Army and was an officer during First World War battles in Europe, writing poems throughout his time on active service. He told his publisher that he often composed them on the butt of his rifle in the trenches. After the war, Aldington became chief reviewer of French books for the Times Literary Supplement, and also wrote biographies and translations. In 1928–29, he wrote Death of a Hero - described by George Orwell as “much the best of the English war books” - and the exhibition features a 1929 UK edition with a modernist dust jacket by Paul Nash.
Aldington’s later career was marked by his critical biography of T.E. Lawrence, 'Lawrence of Arabia'. This challenged Lawrence’s self-mythologizing stories and revealed Lawrence’s illegitimate birth. On view in the exhibition is a 1955 Illustrated magazine article with the headline Why I Debunked the Lawrence Legend in which Aldington tells his side of the story. The exhibition ends with recent literature reviving Aldington’s reputation.
“I consider it a travesty that such an accomplished writer as Richard Aldington, with a considerable and wide-ranging body of work to his name, should be so neglected today,” said curator Simon Hewett. “I hope this exhibition will revive attention and interest in his work.”
