(earliest available signature of Salverson in 1907; she would have been about 17 at the time; signature on a book plate pasted into the following title)
(The Last Robin: Lyrics and Sonnets by Ethelwyn Wetherald, a popular poet of the day; these romantic poems, no doubt, influenced Salverson’s sensibility as a writer)
(title page of the incredibly rare, small-run printing of the second G-G winner for fiction; it is hard to find this book which was printed in Guernsey, Channel Islands; and impossible to find the rare dj)
(spine of the above; I have a good hardback copy and have seen no other copies for sale ever)
(the rare dj of this 1947 McClelland & Stewart ed.)
(same book: the interesting bio blurb on back cover)
Laura Goodman Salverson (1890-1970) was born in Winnipeg, MB. and didn’t learn English till she was 10. Her first G-G winner for fiction, 1937’s The Dark Weaver reflects her pacifist views. Her second (1939) G-G Award was for autobiographical non-fiction Confessions of an Immigrant’s Daughter. Salverson’s books are usually a celebration of Scandinavian immigrants or Norse-styled sagas. Her best work is generally considered to be The Viking Heart, first published in 1923.