Thomas B. Mosher, 1906. A Shropshire Lad by A.E. Housman, limited edition hardcover by publisher Thomas B. Mosher, one of 925 copies printed on Van Gelder paper. Printed in Portland Maine. This small octavo measures 7 1/4-inches tall by 4 1/4-inches wide by 1/2-inch thick.

A Shropshire Lad is a collection of 63 poems by the English poet Alfred Edward Housman. The poems are lyrical and almost epigrammatic in form. They wistfully evoke the dooms and disappointments of youth in the English countryside.

At first the book sold slowly; the initial printing of 500 copies, some 160 of which were sent to the United States, did not clear until 1898. Sales revived during the Second Boer War (1899–1902), due in part to the prominence of military themes and of dying young. Its popularity increased thereafter, especially during World War I, when the book accompanied many young men into the trenches but it also benefited from the accessibility that Housman encouraged himself.

Good condition. Binding and covers good. Paper over boards, peeling slightly to edge. Printed with uncut pages, later cut by reader. Small remainder flap to back cover where pages were cut and remainder strip loose inside the front cover. Previous owner's marking to front fly leaf. Label to spine half chipped. No dust jacket.