Poetry in English AIKEN, Conrad. A LETTER FROM LI PO and Other Poems. New York: Oxford University Press, 1955. 8vo, 93pp. Orig. boards, fine in nearly fine dust jacket. ¶ First Edition, inscribed by Aiken to Paul Jordan Smith. Bonnell A43. $125. AIKEN, Conrad. AND IN THE HUMAN HEART. New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce, (1940). 8vo. Original burgandy cloth in cream dust jacket, very good. ¶ First Edition, signed by the poet. Bonnell A34. $100. AIKEN, Conrad. AND IN THE HUMAN HEART. New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce, (1940). 8vo, (6), 89pp. Orig. cloth, nearly fine in nearly fine dust jacket. ¶ First Edition, inscribed by the author. Bonnell A34. $125. AIKEN, Conrad. BROWNSTONE ECLOGUES and Other Poems. New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce, (1942). 8vo, xi, 99pp. Orig. cloth, fine in nearly fine dust jacket. Signature of Paul Jordan Smith. $45. ¶ First Edition. Bonnell A35. AIKEN, Conrad. BROWNSTONE ECLOGUES and Other Poems. New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce, (1942). 8vo, xi, 99pp. Orig. cloth, some mild sunning to edges, dj with light edgewear and sunning, otherwise very good+. $125. ¶ First Edition, Inscribed and Signed by the Author: "For Madge, these queer woiks [sic] with much love from Conrad and Mary. Brewster 1942." Bruccoli & Clark Vol. 4, p.16. Bonnell A35. AIKEN, Conrad. EARTH TRIUMPHANT and Other Tales in Verse. New York: MacMillan, 1914. 8vo, xi, 219, (7, ads)pp. Orig. green cloth, spine ends barely pulled, otherwise very good, with the bookplate of Paul Jordan Smith. $200. ¶ First Edition of the first collection by the future Pulitzer Prize-winner. These poems were omitted from the Collected Poems. Bonnell A1a. AIKEN, Conrad. LANDSCAPE WEST OF EDEN. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1935. 8vo, (6), 40pp. Orig. cloth, fine in nearly fine dust jacket. $75. ¶ First American Edition. Bonnell A28b. AIKEN, Conrad. LANDSCAPE WEST OF EDEN. New York: Charles Scribner’s, 1935. 8vo, 40pp. Tan paper boards, burgundy lettered, dust jacket, some foxing to endpapers, book label of Jake Zeitlin at reear, mild soiling to dj, otherwise near fine. $50. ¶ First American Edition, from the sheets of the London: Dent, 1934 first edition. Bonnell A28b. AIKEN, Conrad. PRIAPUS AND THE POOL and Other Poems. New York: Boni & Liveright, 1925. 8vo, 151pp. Cloth, paper spine label, dust jacket, mild edgewear, mild stains to spine label, chip at dj spine head with some shelf darkening to spine and folds, some occasional light foxing, and otherwise very good+. $75. ¶ First Trade Edition, a new edition with added poems not found in the 1922 first issue. Bruccoli & Clark Vol. 4, p.12; Bonnell A13 AIKEN, Conrad. SHEEPFOLD HILL. Fifteen Poems. New York: Sagamore Press, 1958. 8vo, 62pp. Quarter yellow cloth, patterned paper boards, dust jacket, mild sunning to dj at spine and edges, otherwise near fine. $35. ¶ First Edition. Bruccoli & Clark Vol. 4, p.19; Bonnell A46. AIKEN, Conrad. SKYLIGHT ONE. Fifteen Poems. New York: Oxford University Press, 1949. 8vo, (xii), 48pp. Blue cloth, blue lettered, dust jacket, light wear and soiling to dj, otherwise near fine. $40.. ¶ First Edition. Bruccoli & Clark Vol. 4., p.17; Bonnell A38a. AIKEN, Conrad. SKYLIGHT ONE. Fifteen Poems. London: John Lehmann, 1951. 8vo, 63pp. Pale blue cloth, gilt lettered on black on spine, dust jacket, light wear to dj, otherwise near fine. $35. ¶ First British Edition. Bruccoli & Clark Vol. 4, p.17; Bonnell A38b. AIKEN, Conrad. THE JIG OF FORSLIN. A Symphony. Boston: Four Seas, 1916. 8vo, 127pp. Burgundy cloth, gilt lettered, stamped ruled borders, dust jacket, light edgewear, moderate shelf darkening to dj with light soiling and 3/4 inch chip at spine head not affecting lettering, smaller chips and edgewear, rear panel flap starting, modern slipcase. $200. ¶ First Edition, probable first issue without the ‘r’ in "warm" on p.117 line one. The striking dust jacket illustration is by Dorothy Pulis Lathrop. Bruccoli & Clark Vol 4, p.11; Bonnell A3a. AIKEN, Conrad. THE KID. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1947. 8vo, 32, (2)pp as notes. Flesh cloth, blue lettered, dust jacket, very mild wear at spine head, tail, and corners, some shelf darkening to dj spine with a few minor chips and front panel flap starting, otherwise very good+. $125. ¶ First Edition, inscribed by the author: "To Madge with much love from Conrad. Brewster: 27:10:47." Bruccoli & Clark Vol. 4, p.16; Bonnell A37a. AIKEN, Conrad. THE KID. [London]: John Lehmann, 1947. 8vo, 46, (1)pp. Lime green cloth, gilt lettered on black on spine, dust jacket, mild darkening to head and tail edges, foxing to free-endpapers, light wear and soiling to dj with chip at spine head, otherwise very good+. $25. ¶ First British Edition. Bruccoli & Clark Vol. 4, p. 16; Bonnell A37b. AIKEN, Conrad. THE MORNING SONG OF LORD ZERO. New York: Oxford University Press, 1963. 8vo, (xi), 130pp. Green paper boards, blue lettered, stamped design, dust jacket, mild shelf darkening to edges, small chip at head edge of dj with neat tear and creasing to rear panel, otherwise very good. $25. ¶ First Edition. Bruccoli & Clark Vol. 4, p.19; Bonnell A52a. AIKEN, Conrad. THE SOLDIER. Norfolk: New Directions, (1944). 8vo, 32pp. Boards, dust jacket, very good copy with the signature of Paul Jordan Smith. $45. ¶ First Edition. Bonnell A36. AIKEN, Conrad. THEE. Drawings by Leonard Baskin. New York: George Braziller, 1967. 8vo, (18), (2) as blank and colophon. Paper boards, black lettered, original slipcase with a few small rubbed spots to onlay, very mild shelf fading to spine. Fine. $175. ¶ First Edition, signed by the author, one of 200 copies printed. Bonnell A59. AIKEN, Conrad. TIME IN THE ROCK. Preludes to Definition. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1936. 8vo, xiv, 138pp. Orig. cloth, lettered in gilt. Fine in very good dust jacket. With the signature of Paul Jordan Smith. $60. ¶ First Edition. Aiken "wrote, ‘the preludes were planned to be…the formulation of a new Weltanschauung’; what he said about these poems, however, is of less interest than the poems themselves, which are his best work" (Seymour-Smith). Bonnell A31a. AIKEN, Conrad. TIME IN THE ROCK. Preludes to Definition. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1936. 8vo, xiv, 138pp. Orig. cloth, lettered in gilt. Fine in near fine price-clipped dust jacket. $75. ¶ First Edition. Aiken "wrote, ‘the preludes were planned to be…the formulation of a new Weltanschauung’; what he said about these poems, however, is of less interest than the poems themselves, which are his best work" (Seymour-Smith). Bonnell A31a. Bruccoli & Clark Vol. 4., p.15. AIKEN, Conrad. TURNS AND MOVIES and Other Tales in Verse. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1916. 8vo, (x), 90pp. Original green printed dust jacket over limp boards, bookplate of Frederick Skiff, wear at spine ends, wrappers sunned affecting color only, otherwise very good. $100. ¶ First Edition of the author’s second book; 1000 copies were printed. Bonnell A2a. ALDINGTON, Richard. IMAGES OLD AND NEW. Boston: Four Seas Company, 1916. 8vo, 47pp. Stiff paper wrappers over boards. Light wear to extremities, otherwise very good. $175. ¶ First American Edition of Aldington’s second book. ALDINGTON, Richard. LIFE QUEST. London: Chatto & Windus, 1935. 8vo, (8), 40pp. Orig. cloth, fine in fine dust jacket. With the signature of Joyce scholar & L.A. Times book reviewer Paul Jordan Smith. $25. ¶ First Edition. ALDINGTON, Richard, trans. & ed. FIFTY ROMANCE LYRIC POEMS. London: Allen Wingate: (1948). 8vo, 199pp. Original blue cloth in dust jacket. Bookseller’s price tag, very good. $25. ¶ Corrected Edition with a changed attribution. ALDRICH, Thomas Bailey. JUDITH AND HOLOFERNES. A Poem. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1896. 8vo, vi, 78pp. Light brown buckram, gilt. Bookplate. Fine. $20. ¶ First Edition. BAL 375. ALLEN, Gay Wilson. WALT WHITMAN HANDBOOK. Chicago: Packard, 1946. 8vo, xviii, 560pp. Tan cloth, brown lettered, dust jacket, a few white spots to front board, dj with chips at spine head and tail, top edge, owner’s signature, otherwise very good. $40. ¶ First Edition. BAL 9, p.101. (Angelo, Valenti). [HOMER]. HYMNS TO APHRODITE. (New York: Valenti Angelo, 1949). Large 8vo, (21)pp (issued without title page), handcolored woodcuts to frontispiece & p.(1) & colophon, handcolored paragraph markers & capitals throughout. Orig. blue paper boards over white paper shelfback, spine lettered in gilt, some soiling to spine, note in pen to front free endpaper, otherwise fine. $150. ¶ One of an edition of 150 copies of the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, designed, decorated, printed, numbered, and signed by Valenti Angelo. A very attractive & rare Angelo book. ANGELOU, Maya. ALL GOD’S CHILDREN NEED TRAVELING SHOES. New York: Random House, 1986. 8vo. Original black boards in lightly chipped dust jacket, very good. $50. ¶ First Trade Edition. ARENSBERG, Walter Conrad. IDOLS. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1916. 8vo, 81pp. Green boards printed in black, spine perished, front board detached. $100. ¶ First Edition, inscribed by the author to Paul Jordan Smith. The second collection of poems by the author who financed the influential literary magazine Others. An important friend of much of what was new in arts and literature in the first two decades of this century, Arensberg later abandoned poetry and went on to a career of collector and promoter of modern art. ARNOLD, Edwin. THE SECRET OF DEATH. (From the Sanskrit). With Some Collected Poems. London: Trübner, 1885. 8vo, viii, 406pp. Orig. cloth, very good. $65. ¶ First Edition of these verse translations from the Upanishads. Edwin Arnold (1832-1904) was editor of the Daily Telegraph. He published several volumes of poems, and he is best remembered for his Light of Asia, or the Great Renunciation, in which he attempted to depict the life of Prince Gautama, the founder of Buddhism. AUDEN. W.H. ABOUT THE HOUSE. New York: Random House, 1965. Lg 8vo, 84pp. Orig. spiral-bound galleys with light blue cover sheets, somewhat worn, lacking upper & lower spiral rings. $35. ¶ Uncorrected Publisher’s Advance Proofs, with "$3.00" and "July 1965" in pencil on front cover. AUDEN, W.H. MOUNTAINS. Illustrated by Edward Bawden. London:: Faber & Faber, (1954). 8vo, illus. title, color frontispiece, 3pp text. Yellow wrappers. Fine, in the original salmon-pink mailing envelope. $30. ¶ First Edition, an Ariel Poem illustrated by Edward Bawden AUDEN, W.H. ON THIS ISLAND. New York: Random House, 1937. 8vo, 68, (4)pp blank. Brown cloth, gilt lettered, dust jacket. A very attrractive copy, in dust jacket with light wear to backstrip. $175. ¶ First American Edition of Look, Stranger!, limited to 2000 copies. Auden was reportedly unhappy with Faber & Faber’s choice of titles and asked Random House to use another. Carter Burden Collection A13b. AUDEN, W.H. THE ENCHAFED FLOOD Or The Romantic Iconography of the Sea. London: Faber & Faber, (1951). 8vo, 126pp. Original blue cloth in lightly worn & chipped dust jacket, very good. Ownership signature. $85. ¶ First British edition of Auden’s "most sustained collection of critical prose" (Martin Seymour-Smith). Bloomfield A31b. AUSLANDER, Joseph. RIDERS AT THE GATE. A Volume of Verse. New York: Macmillan, 1938. 8vo, viii, (2), 83pp. Orig. cloth, fine in chipped & neatly tape-repaired dust jacket. $75. ¶ First Edition, warmly inscribed by the author to L.A. Times book reviewer Paul Jordan Smith. BARCLAY, Anthony. WILDE’S SUMMER ROSE; or, The Lament of the Captive. An authentic Account of the Origin, Mystery and Explanation of Hon. R.H. Wilde’s alleged Plagiarism… Savannah: [Georgia Historical Society], 1871. 8vo, 70pp. Orig. green cloth, upper cover lettered in gilt, gilt edges, ink inscription on end-paper, otherwise very good. $40. ¶ Only Edition of Barclay’s study of the true history of the famous poem "My Life is like a Summer Rose" by R.H. Wilde, the Congressman from Georgia. [BARFORD, John Leslie]. FANTASIES. By Philebus, Author of Ladslove Lyrics and Young Things. London: Privately Printed… [i.e. F.E. Murray], 1923. 8vo, (10), 75pp, frontis. plate with poem announcing why no portrait of the author appears. Orig. grey boards, white labels. Lightest dustsoiling & fading to boards, otherwise fine & unopened. $250. ¶ Only Edition, one of a total
of 278 copies in all formats, considered the best of the Uranian poet’s works.
Several of "Philebus’s" works, including Fantasies "reflect a regret
for his love of young boys, a rare statement in Uranian circles mainly convinced as they
were of the natural superiority such love had over every other human relationship"
(d’Arch Smith, Love in Earnest, p.146). The work is mysteriously dedicated
"‘To D-A-L.’ ‘A Woman of Infinite Sympathy,’" and the
meaning is obscure, except that the letters spell "lad" backwards. "After
some fifty pages of Uranian verse, the book tails off into a series of poems written for a
little girl, Sue, of the poorest and sickliest kind" (d’Arch Smith p.147). [BARFORD, John Leslie]. FANTASIES. By Philebus, Author of Ladslove Lyrics and Young Things. London: Privately Printed… [i.e. F.E. Murray], 1923. 8vo, (10), 75pp, frontis. plate with poem announcing why no portrait of the author appears. Orig. grey boards, white labels. Lightest dustsoiling & fading to boards, otherwise fine & unopened. $250. ¶ Only Edition, one of a total
of 278 copies in all formats, considered the best of the Uranian poet’s works.
Several of "Philebus’s" works, including Fantasies "reflect a regret
for his love of young boys, a rare statement in Uranian circles mainly convinced as they
were of the natural superiority such love had over every other human relationship"
(d’Arch Smith, Love in Earnest, p.146). The work is mysteriously dedicated
"‘To D-A-L.’ ‘A Woman of Infinite Sympathy’", and the
meaning is obscure, except that the letters spell "lad" backwards. "After
some fifty pages of Uranian verse, the book tails off into a series of poems written for a
little girl, Sue, of the poorest and sickliest kind" (d’Arch Smith, p.147). BARKER, Eric Wilson. THE PLANETARY HEART. With a Foreward by Benjamin DeCasseres & Introduction by John Cowper Powys. Mill Valley, California: Wings Press, 1942. Tall 8vo, xviii, 73pp. Original orange cloth, gilt, fine, in a lightly soiled dust jacket, very good. $100. ¶ First Edition of Barker’s much praised first book of poetry. A review copy, with slip laid in. BAUDELAIRE, [Charles]. TWENTY PROSE POEMS OF BAUDELAIRE. Translated with an Introduction by Michael Hamburger. London: Editions Poetry London, 1946. 8vo, 47pp. Pale blue cloth, gilt lettered, dust jacket, light soiling to edges, mild sunning and soiling to dj, otherwise very good. $75. ¶ First of Hamburger’s superb translation of Petits Poémes en Prose written by Baudelaire over the last twelve years of his life. (Baudelaire). GAUTIER, Theophile. CHARLES BAUDELAIRE, His Life, Translated into English, with Selections from his Poems...and An Essay on his Influence by Guy Thorne, with four Photogravures. London: Greening & Co., (1915). 8vo, 205pp. Green cloth decorated in gilt. A fine copy if not for extensive underlining. $150. ¶ First English Edition. (Baudelaire). RHODES, S.A. THE CULT OF BEAUTY IN CHARLES BAUDELAIRE. New York: Columbia University Institute of French Studies, 1929. 2 vols, 8vo, xxi, 261; (3), 262-617pp, 1 plate. Modern marbled wrappers, some marking in pencil, several pp badly opened, a very good set. $60. ¶ First Edition. THE FIRST TRANSLATION OF BAUDELAIRE (Baudelaire). SHEPHERD, Richard Herne. TRANSLATIONS FROM CHARLES BAUDELAIRE. With a Few Original Poems. London: John Camden Hotten, 1869 [1871]. 12mo, 104pp. Contemp. full green morocco with raised band, decorated gilt spine, t.e.g. Very good copy. $500. ¶ First Edition, second issue, with extra poems written in 1870-71 added to the original printing.The three poems of Baudelaire are the first translation of his works into English. Later issues were also published in 1877 and 1879. Harris, The First Printed Translations, p.20. (Baudelaire). TURNELL, Martin. BAUDELAIRE. A Study of his Poetry. (Norfolk, Connecticut): A New Directions Book, [1954]. 8vo, 328pp. Orig. printed cloth, title in gilt, in dust-jacket slightly sunned to head of spine, very good. $45. ¶ First Edition, with publisher’s review slip laid in. BELLENGER, Alfred E. ANTHOLOGY OF VERSE FROM YALE LITERARY MAGAZINE 1836-1936. New Haven: Yale University, 1936. 8vo. Original blue cloth, browning & chipping to spine paper label, exterior lightly soiled, very good. $30. ¶ First Edition. A collection of poetry by students from Yale including Stephen Vincent Benét, Tom Prideaux, Edward Rowland Sill, et al. BELLOC, Hilaire. VERSES. With an Introduction by Joyce Kilmer. New York: Laurence J. Gomme, 1916. 8vo, xxvii, 91pp. Quarter cloth, paper boards lettered in gilt. Light external wear & foxing, internally clean, bookplate, overall very good. $50. ¶ First American Edition. BERRIGAN, Daniel. ENCOUNTERS. Cleveland: World Publishing, (1960). 8vo, 76pp. Original cream boards in very lightly soiled dust jacket, nearly fine. Faint small ink mark on front endpaper. $40. ¶ First Edition of the poet’s second book. BERRY, Wendell; Ben Shahn, illustrator. NOVEMBER TWENTY SIX NINETEEN HUNDRED SIXTY THREE. New York: George Brazillier, 1964. Oblong 8vo, profusely illustrated, printed on Italian handmade Fabriano sheets. Original cream cloth, small smudge on title, otherwise fine; slipcase lightly worn, very good. $175. ¶ Limited Edition, one of an unstated number of copies signed by the poet and the illustrator. Berry wrote this moving poem after the assisination of President Kennedy. BERRYMAN, John. BERRYMAN’S SONNETS. [Now First Imprinted]. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1967. 8vo, ix, 115pp. Black cloth, gilt lettered, dust jacket, light soiling and edgewear to dj, otherwise, nea r fine. $40. ¶ First Edition, first printing. BINYON, Laurence. THE IDOLS. An Ode. London: Macmillan, 1928. 4to, 51pp. Orig. brown paper boards over tan buckram shelfback. Occasionl light foxing. Previous owner’s inscription. Very good in well-preserved dustjacket. $75. ¶ First Edition of one of the widely admired poetical works of this acclaimed art historian. BINYON, Laurence. THE SIRENS. An Ode. London: Macmillan, 1925. 4to, viii, 38pp. Orig. brown paper boards over tan buckram shelfback. Clean and very good. $85. ¶ First Edition. Presentation copy to Langdon Warner. BISHOP, John Peale. NOW WITH HIS LOVE. Poems. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1933. 8vo, ix, (3), 89pp. Black cloth, gilt lettering, d.j. Fine. $75. ¶ First Edition. Advance copy with publishers’ slip to literary editor laid in. BIXBY, A.L. MEMORIES & OTHER POEMS. [Lincoln, Neb.: State Journal], 1900. 8vo, (4), 125pp. Grey cloth, gilt-stamped title & campfire motif on front. Uncut, corners slightly bumped, otherwise fine. $30. ¶ First Edition of this Nebraska poet’s work. BLAKE, William. SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND EXPERIENCE London: Pickering, 1839 8vo, xxi, (3), 74pp, Orig. cloth, blind stamped panels front and back, small gilt title in center of front cover, hinges repaired, a very good copy. $2000. ¶ First typographic edition of these masterpieces. Keynes note that "its anonymous editor was a Swedenborgian homeopathist, J. Garth Wilkinson, whose ambition to publish Blake’s poems was brought to fruition with the help of money from his brother. A small edition was published in 1839: it would be almost 30 years before another edition of Blake’s work would appear in print" (Keynes 35). There are two issues, with and without (as here) The Little Vagabond, said by Bentley to have been cancelled by the editor out of prudishness. There is, however, no evidence of cancellation in a bibliographic sense and the LV issue, which appears to be rare, persumbably has an inserted leaf, so that it would be difficult to assign priority. BLUNT, Wilfrid Scawen. ESTHER, Love Lyrics, and Natalia’s Resurrection. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, 1892. Small 8vo, vi, 247pp. Dark green beveled cloth, t.e.g., uncut. A nice copy. $50. ¶ First Edition. Printed at the Chiswick Press. BOTTOMLEY, Gordon. CHAMBERS OF IMAGERY [with] CHAMBERS OF IMAGERY (Second Series). London: Elkin Mathews, 1907-12. 2 vol, 8vo, 40; 41pp. Brown wrappers. Near fine copies. $75. ¶ First Editions. BOURNE, Vincent. THE POETICAL WORKS OF… London: W. Pickering…and Talboys and Wheeler…, 1826. 8vo, iii-xxvii, 4, 292pp, text in English & Latin. Beverly Grammar School prize binding of contemp. polished calf, gilt boarders round edges, gilt spine, morocco label, board-edges gilt, morocco endpapers & edges. Light rubbing, very good. $125. ¶ A fine copy ofthe beautifully
printed "Wreath" edition, starred by Keynes in his Pickering Handlist. The
edition was issued in two varieties: this style has the title in English only and bears
the Pickering imprint before the Talboys imprint. We also note that the Appendix of
Cowper’s translations is here bound following the Contents and before the text. BOWLES, Paul. THE THICKET OF SPRING: Poems 1926-1929. Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1972. 8vo. Quarter green buckram over tan boards in original acetate dust jacket, fine. $150. ¶ First Edition, one of 200 numbered copies signed by author. BOYD, James. EIGHTEEN POEMS. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1944. 8vo, xvii, 29pp. Orig. cloth, nearly fine in lightly chipped dust jacket. $50. ¶ First Edition of Boyd’s last book of poems [BRATHWAITE, Richard]. DRUNKEN BARNABY’S FOUR JOURNEYS TO THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. In Latin and English Metre…Together with Betsy Bell. London: S. Illidge, 1723. 12mo, (20), 175, (8)pp, frontis. & 5 copper-engraved plates. Full polished calf, double-filleted, gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers, marbled edge by Lewis. Slightest of cracking to joints, contemp. writing to prelim. blank, bookplate, a very good copy. $500. ¶ Third Edition, expanded from the second and with four additional plates, of the most famous of Brathwaite’s works. Considered by Southey "the best piece of rhymed Latin in modern literature" the volume was first published in 1638 with the title Barnabae Itinerarium, or Barnabee’s Journal" under the pseudonym "Corymbaeus." A lively record of English travel, expressed in Latin and English doggerel verse, the volume was ignored in its day and achieved fame initially with the second edition. The authorship was not ascertained until Joseph Haslewood’s publication of the eleventh edition in 1818. Lowndes I, p.260. BRERETON, Geoffrey. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE FRENCH POETS. Villon to the Present Day. Fair Lawn, N.J.: Essential Books, 1957. 8vo, xv, 302pp. Orig. green cloth. Nearly fine in slightly sunned dust-jacket. $20. ¶ First Edition. The French poetry of some five centuries is surveyed by means of a series of studies of the work & personality of individual poets, beginning with Villon & ending with the post-surrealists. BRIDGES, Robert. EROS & PSYCHE, A Poem in Twelve Measures. London: George Bell & Sons, 1885. 8vo, 158pp. Olive linen, half cream parchment, spine lettered in gilt, edges uncut. A fine copy. $125. ¶ First Edition, printed on Van Gelder laid paper with watermarks. McKay 10. (BRIDGES, Robert). THE MESSAGE OF ONE OF ENGLAND’S GREATEST POETS TO A PRINTER AND PRINTERS, Especially Those Who Possess Love of Craft. (London: George Jones, 1931). 4to, 12, (2), photographic frontisportrait, 3 facsimile plates. Quarter cloth over boards, t.e.g. Slight browning to boards, otherwise nearly fine, with the bookplate of Bibliographia Burtoniana author Paul Jordan Smith. $45. ¶ Very attractive printing by Jones of a selection from "The Testament of Beauty." A limitation is not stated, but an American edition by Rudge consisted of 250 copies. With a beautiful portrait of Bridges photographed by Lady Ottoline Morrell. BROOKE, Rupert; THE OLD VICARAGE GRANTCHESTER. With a woodcut by Noel Rooke. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1916. 12mo, 12pp, incl. double-page woodcut plate. Original grey sewn wrappers, edges lightly worn, very good. $150. ¶ First Separate Printing. Brooke wrote this acclaimed poem in Berlin 1912. Keynes, 29. BROWN, Bob. 1450-1950. [New York]: Jargon Books, 1959. 8vo, unpaginated. Wrappers with photo byJonathan Williams, mild soiling, otherwise a fine copy. $85. ¶ New edition of avant-garde writer Brown’s collection of Fourth Dimensional calligrams, "a fanciful history of innovative printing in which Brown placed himself at the end of the line that began with Gutenberg" (Hugh Ford). Originally published thirty years earlier in Paris by Harry and Caresse Crosby for their Black Sun Press, it was acclaimed by virtually every contemporary writer and artist from Duchamp and Gertrude Stein through William Carlos Williams, Carl Sandburg, and H.L. Menken. Not quite poetry, not quite prose, it is, rather, a union of the verbal and the visual. A masterpiece, the Black Sun original edition of 150 copies is near impossible to find; the present edition of 2000 copies is scarce. BROWNING, Elizabeth Barrett. THE RELIGIOUS OPINIONS OF…As Expressed in Three Letters Addressed to Wm. Merry. Edited by W. Robertson Nicoll. London: Prvately Printed, 1896. 8vo, 28, (1, woodcut colophon)pp. Orig. velin boards, spine lettered in gilt. $450. ¶ First Edition, one of thirty copies, published by T.J. Wise. The editor’s introduction states that EBB’s letters to Mr. Merry were written in response to his sending her a copy of his recently published book, Predestination and Election, Considered Spiritually, (1843). Ashley Library I, pp.104-5. Barnes B3. BUCHANAN, Robert. THE DEVIL’S CASE. A Bank Holiday Interlude. London: Robert Buchanan, [1894]. 8vo, (10),169, iv, (2)pp, frontispiece. Black cloth with red letter and silver embossed design of a contemplative devil on upper cover. Signature of Paul Jordan Smith on front free endpaper, manuscript annotation on final flyleaf, extremities slightly rubbed. Very good. $80.
BUCK, Mitchell S. EPHEMERA. Greek Prose Poems. Philadelphia: Nicholas Brown, 1916. 8vo, 65pp. Original boards, printed on Japan paper. Good. Signature of former Los Angeles Times Literary Editor Paul Jordan Smith. $30. ¶ First Edition of the collection of poetry composed in the spirit of classical Greece. BULLEN, A.H. (Ed.) MUSA PROTERVA: Love Poems of the Restoration. London: Privately printed, 1889. 8vo, xxiii, 128pp. White cloth, gilt lettered and ornamented, teg, partially unopened, mild soiling, otherwise near fine. $25. ¶ First Edition. "A few of the poems here collected may occasionally pass the bounds of strict decorum; but it will be found that these delinquencies (never of a violent character) are atoned by some happy jerk of fancy or playful sally of wit" (from the editor’s Preface). Authors include: Wm Congreve, Charles Cotton, John Dryden, Th. Shadwell, and the notorious John Wilmont, Earl of Rochester, whose explicit Sodom, or the Quintessence of Debauchery, is definitely not to be found in the present collection of gallantiana. A very nicely produced volume. NCBEL III, 1640. BURTON, Richard. LYRICS OF BROTHERHOOD. Boston: Small, Maynard & Co., 1899. Small 8vo, (8), 75pp. Orig. red cloth, lavishly blocked in blind, front board & spine lettered in gilt. Back board rubbed, very good. $35. ¶ First Edition. Burton (1861-1940), a teacher, poet, biographer, and critic, taught for many years at the University of Minnesota. In 1925 he went to New Jersey, where he became a popular lecturer. BURTON, Robert. PHILOSOPHASTER COMOEDIA… Hartford: Stephan Austin [for the Roxburghe Club], 1862. Lge. 8vo, xxxvi, 148, (5) photostatic facsimile pp. Half calf over cloth. Joints & spine, quite worn, otherwise very good, with the bookplate of Paul Jordan Smith & note in his hand about the volume. $50. ¶ Facsimile copy made for Paul Jordan Smith, Burton’s bibliographer and translator of Philosophaster Comoedia. The play, of which two manuscripts exist, was written in 1606 and published, in an edition of 65 copies, for the Roxburghe Club in 1862. Paul Jordan Smith translated it, along with other of Burton’s minor writings, in 1931. Cf. Jordan Smith 72. BUTLER, Samuel. HUDIBRAS. A Poem…with Historical, Biographical, and Explanatory Notes, Selected from Grey & Other Auhros. To Which are Prefixed a Loife of the Author, and a Preliminary Discourse on the Civil War. London: for Akerman…, 1822. 2 vols, 8vo, vi, lxxiv, (2), 444; 494pp, 12 colored acquatint plates (incl. frontis.). Full contemp. gilt-panelled morocco, spine stamped in gilt, gilt dentelles, a.e.g. Light wear to extremities, joints flaking, otherwise very good. $275. ¶ Handsome edition with aquatint
plates by J. Clark of the most popular poem of its kind in the 17th century. In its
narrative form of a mock romance, derived from Don Quixote, Hudibras humorously deals with
scholastic pedantry, Aristotelian logic, the theological quibbles between the
Presbyterians and independent sectarians, withcraft, alchemy, astrology and other topics.
Although Hudibras is considered the most learnedly allusive poem in English, Butler
derides erudition, and his intentionally cumbersome octosyllabic metre renders absurd
every subject treated. [BYNNER, Witter & Arthur D. Ficke] SPECTRA, A BOOK OF POETIC EXPERIMENTS. New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 1916. 8vo, decorated boards. Wear at corners and spine, extremities, with small loss at crown of spine, small bookplate, otherwise a very good copy of this fragile book. $300. ¶ First Edition of this most successful of American literary hoaxes, inscribed by Bynner: "To Jane so especially spectric, through her old friend, Hal, from Emanuel Morgan, Santa Fe again 1937," and by Ficke: "To Jane with echoes of Lesbos from Hers eternally Anne." While by 1937 the ruse had been dropped, copies inscribed by both are uncommon. (Copies inscribed before the hoax was revealed exist, but are rarer than good examples of Spectric poetry.) CABELL, James Branch. SOME OF US. An Essay in Epitaphs. New York: Robet M. McBride, 1930. 8vo, (10), 135pp. Orig. boards, cloth spine, paper label to front board & spine. A nearly fine copy in a broken slipcase. $100. ¶ One of 1295 numbered copies, this copy signed by the author. CAMPBELL, Roy. POMEGRANATES. London: Boriswood, 1932. 12mo, [14]pp, including a woodcut and a colored woodcut both by James Boswell. Original beige cloth lettered in red, slightly soiled, but a very good copy. $350. ¶ EDITION LIMITED TO 99 COPIES SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, THIS ONE OF TEN FOR PRESENTATION printed on very thick hand-made paper. With the pencil signature on the endpaper of Hugh Whitney Morrison, Merton College, Oxford, dated 1932; one suspects that detailed research into Campbell’s life might reveal some kinship between him and Morrison as Campbell had once studied at Oxford. Campbell is the greatest South African poet in English of this century. CATHER, Willa Sibert. APRIL TWILIGHTS. Poems by… Boston: Richard G. Badger, The Gorham Press, 1903. 8vo, 52pp, title in green & black. Orig. boards, paper labels to front board & spine. Spine ends distinctly worn, label to spine chipped, otherwise very good, issued without dust jacket. $1000. ¶ First Edition of Cather’s first book, published nine years before her first novel. Initially displeased with it, she bought the remainders in 1908 and destroyed them, but permitted Knopf to publish a new edition in 1923 after removing thirteen poems from the original contents and adding twelve new ones. Of the poems withdrawn, two were not reprinted until 1962, when the true second edition was published. Crane A1a. CAUSLEY, Charles. COLLECTED POEMS 1951-1975. Boston: David R. Godine, 1975\ 8vo, 289pp. Tan wrappers, tan lettering on red, very mild sunning to spine, some speckling on top edge, otherwise fine. $20. ¶ First American Edition, a review copy with publisher’s notice, of the British poet’s work. (Chatterton). ROWLEY AND CHATTERTON IN THE SHADES: or, Nugae Antiquae et Novae. A New Elysian Interlude, in Prose and Verse. London: T. Becket, 1782. Thin 8vo, viii, 44pp. Contemporary polished calf, ruled in gilt, gilt edges. Joints a trifle worn, otherwise a fine, quite tall copy from the Monckton-Milnes collection with his marks of ownership. $350. ¶ First edition, ascribed to George Hardinge and/or Thomas James Mathias. This two-act interlude features an imaginary meeting between Rowley and Chatterton. Ossian, various characters associated with the Rowley poems, and several dignataries all have a place in this farce. DNB firmly ascribes it to Mathias, as Warren does to Hardinge. Warren p.77. (Chatterton). ROWLEY AND CHATTERTON IN THE SHADES: or, Nugae Antiquae et Novae. A New Elysian Interlude, in Prose and Verse. London: T. Becket, 1782. Thin 8vo, viii, 44pp. Quarter burgundy morocco over marbled boards, spine lettered in gilt. Very light occasional foxing, otherwise fine. $350. ¶ First edition, ascribed to George Hardinge and/or Thomas James Mathias. This two-act interlude features an imaginary meeting between Rowley and Chatterton. Ossian, various characters associated with the Rowley poems, and several dignaries all have a place in this farce. DNB firmly ascribes it to Mathias, as Warren does to Hardinge. Warren p.77. (Chatterton). THE CHATTERTON MANUSCRIPT. Ca. 1896. $25. ¶ Interesting 4to flyer with an article reprinted from the Bristol Times and Mirror, December 9th, 1895. The article praises the city of Bristol for having educated itself about Thomas Chatterton, his birthplace in Bristol, St. Mary Redcliff, and the immense collection of Chattertoniana in the Bristol Museum. The author laments the ignorance which the inhabitants of Bristol had had about their city, but expresses joy over one man’s efforts to procure for the city an orginal autograph poem which foreigners had attempted to lure away from its proper home, the city of Bristol. The manuscript was of the poem "Kew Gardens," of which about 60 lines are reprinted on this sheet. (Chatterton). [ANSTEY, Christopher]. THE NEW BATH GUIDE: Or, Memoirs of the B-N-R-D Family. In a Series of Poetical Epistles. [with second title]. London: for Vernor, Hood, and Sharpe…, 1807. Small 8vo, viii, 156, (2, ads), frontispiece, 7 plates; (4), 168pp. Contemp. half morocco over marbled boards, spine lettered in gilt. Several small pen markings to title page of first title, light even browning to second title, very good. $150. ¶ One of more than 40 editions
through which one of the most celebrated of all British satires passed. The series of
letters, written in colloquial anapestic meter to and from several people, retell the
adventures of squire Blunderhead and his family in Bath. The manners of this ancient and
fashionable town and its visitors are depicted with gaiety and good humor. Horace Walpole
said that "so much humour, fun, and poetry, so much originality, never met together
before" and that for poetry Anstey had "a better ear than Dryden or
Handel." Smollet drew on Anstey for his Hump[hrey Clinker and Thackeray’s Book
of Snobs reflects some influence. [bound with] (Chatterton). BRYANT, Jacob. OBSERVATIONS UPON THE POEMS OF THOMAS ROWLEY: in Which the Authenticity of Those Poems is Ascertained. London: Payne, Cadell & Elmsly, 1781. 2 vols, 8vo, iv, 305; (1)pp., pp.306-597, (1, errata)p. Early 19th century polished calf, boards stamped with insignia of the "Society of Writers to the Signet," red & black morocco labels. Joints worn, front board of vol. I detached, bookplate, otherwise very good. $250. ¶ First Edition of Bryant’s defence of the authenticity of the Rowley poems. Bryant and Jeremiah Milles were the most distinguished of those who defended Chatterton’s assertions about the poems, but their monographs were answered very quickly by dozens of other scholars. In January,1782, George Steevens wrote to the Reverend William Cole: "You know, I imagine, that Tyrwhitt, Tom Warton, Mr. Malone, and others have taken up their pens in opposition to the books of Bryant and Milles. My friend Dr. Johnson says, he is sorry for the former, who possesses a very great and deserved reputation…" Jacob Bryant’s reputation was based on several massive publications on mythology and ancient history; as DNB tastefully records, his book on the Rowley forgeries "did not add to his reputation." Warren p.75. (Chatterton). CROFT, Herbert. LOVE AND MADNESS: A Story Too True. In a Series of Letters between Parties, Whose Names Would Perhaps Be Mentioned, Were They Less Known, or Less Lamented. London: G. Kearsly, 1780. 8vo, viii, 296pp. Modern half smooth calf over brown calf, ruled in gilt, red morocco label, compartments tooled in gilt, t.e.g. Light fairly even browning to text (especially title page), one leaf torn & remargined without loss, otherwise fine. $250. ¶ First Edition of Croft’s publication of Chatterton’s letters, which he printed without permission of the poet’s family. The volume purports to be a collection of letters between the Reverend James Hackman and his murder victim, Martha Ray. Croft, who wrote the letters himself, also took the opportunity to interpolate numerous letters by Chatterton which he managed to wrest from Chatterton’s mother and sister, claiming he wanted to borrow them "for an hour," but which he returned twenty-one years later. Printed in this volume for the first time are the poems "Apostate Will," "The Resignation," and "Happiness," as well as eight of Chatterton’s London letters. Letter 49 (p.125) "contains a valuable contribution to the Rowley controversy in favour of Chatterton’s authorship" (Warren p.76). Croft’s work also initiated a more sympathetic public opinion of the poet, whom Croft viewed as a Werther-like genius, scandalously misunderstood by his contemporaries. Warren 6. (Chatterton). DIX, John. THE LIFE OF THOMAS CHATTERTON. Including His Unpublished Poems and Correspondence. London: Hamilton, Adams, 1837. 8vo, viii, 336pp. Orig. tan cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Lacks portrait as often, otherwise very good. $200. ¶ First Edition of Dix’s biography of Chatterton, which contains the first complete printed version of "Kew Gardens" (pp.154-194). "Leigh Hunt characterized Dix’s biography as ‘heart-touching,’ adding that in addition to what was before known the author gathered up all the fragments" (DNB). Warren p.89. (Chatterton). GREGORY, G[eorge]. THE LIFE OF THOMAS CHATTERTON, With Criticisms on His Genius and Writings, and a Concise View of the Controversy Concerning Rowley’s Poems. London: for G. Kearsley, 1789. 8vo, viii, 263, (1, ads)pp, including facsimile frontispiece. Modern blue cloth, red morocco label, t.e.g. Light foxing throughout, very good. $175. ¶ First Edition of Gregory’s biography of Chatterton, previously printed in the second edition of the Biographia. Britannica The volume, which prints for the first time Chatterton’s amusing "The Art of Puffing," includes an ingenious comparison of Milton’s and Chatterton’s lives, showing how much more miraculous Chatterton’s accomplishments were. Seven letters of Chatterton and a brief bibliography follow the biography. George Gregory (1754-1808), divine and man of letters, was a self-educated dramatist, satirist, historian, philosopher, and biographer. He took over the editorship of Kippis’ Biographia Britannica.and was an energetic member of the Royal Humane Society. Warren 12 & pp.77, 90. (Chatterton). HICKFORD, Rayner. OBSERVATIONS ON THE POEMS ATTRIBUTED TO ROWLEY, Tending to Prove That They Were Really Written by Him and Other Ancient Authors. To Which Are Added Remarks on the Appendix of the Editor of Rowley’s Poems. London: for C. Bathurst, [1782]. 8vo, 35pp. Modern quarter sienna morocco over marbled boards, spine lettered in gilt. Crease & light foxing to title page, occasional slight browning, otherwise fine. $250. ¶ Only edition of Hickford’s and Fell’s remarks on the Rowley poems. Despite maintaining a suspicion toward the authenticity of the Rowley manuscripts, Hickford and Fell insist that the poems were for the most part written by Rowley. This monograph was one of the dozen or so works, written in response to Milles’s edition of the Rowley poems and all published in 1782, arguing the question of the poems’ authenticity. Warren p.77. (Chatterton). [MALONE, Edmond]. CURSORY OBSERVATIONS ON THE POEMS ATTRIBUTED TO THOMAS ROWLEY… With Some Remarks on the Commentaries on Those Poems, by the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Milles… and Jacob Bryant… and a Salutary Proposal Addressed to the Friends of Those Gentlemen. London: for J. Nichols, 1782. 8vo, 62, (2, ads)pp. Later half brown calf over marbled boards. Boards rubbed, title page dust soiled, small note in pen to p.iii, very good. $250. ¶ First Edition, called the "second," of the first scholarly exposure of Chatterton’s forgery. Malone wrote in response to the commentary of Milles in his edition of Rowley Poems and to Bryant’s Observations. The great Shakespeare scholar, Malone, was also the first to break open the forgery of William Henry Ireland, who had been passing off some writing of his own as Shakespeare’s. Warren p.78 (Chatterton). MATHIAS, Thomas James. AN ESSAY ON THE EVIDENCE, EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL, Relating to the Poems Attributed to Thomas Rowley. Containing a General View of the Whole Controversy. By Thomas James Mathias. London: T. Becket, 1783. Sm. 8vo, viii, 118, (6, contents & ad)pp. Marbled boards, paper label, fine, with the title page $250. ¶ First Edition, inscribed, "from the author," of Mathias’ level-headed discussion of the authenticity of the Rowley poems. Although the thick of the controversy had developed in only the past two years, Mathias (1754-1835), the author of the first part of the satirical Pursuits of Literature, begins with a brief bibliography of thirteen books on the topic and notes the existence of "various shorter Compositions on the Subject (too numerous to specify) inserted in the different monthly Magazines." He notes that "men of great abilities and learning" have formed "conclusions diametrically opposite from the same principles," yet eloquently concludes that Rowley was the author of the poems attributed to him. Warren p.78. (Chatterton). [MICKLE, William]. THE PROPHECY OF QUEEN EMMA; An Ancient Ballad Lately Discovered, Written by Johannes Turgotus, Prior of Durham, in the Reign of William Rufus. To Which is Added, by the Editor, an Account of the Discovery, and Hints towards a Vindication of the Authenticity of the Poems of Ossian and Rowley. London: for J. Bew, 1782. 8vo, pp.(3)-40, lacks half-title. Modern quarter red morocco over marbled boards, spine lettered in gilt. Text barely foxed & soiled, otherwise fine. $175. ¶ First Edition of Mickle’s allegorical poem concerning American independence, a poem in which Mickle (1735-1788) showed himself "a capable master of travesty and persiflage. To [this poem] was prefixed a clever travesty of critical method in the ‘Hints towards the Vindication of the Authenticity of the Poems of Ossian and Rowley" (DNB). In his essay, Mickle draws up a farcical proof that the "Prophecy of Queen Emma," which he wrote himself, was the work of Johannes Turgotus, a prior in the reign of William Rufus (William II). Mickle argues that despite the fact that the manuscript of the poem "is neither in the language or orthography of the reign of William Rufus, but that in both it is perfectly and entirely modern," nevertheless, he claims, this kind of argument reveals a "futility of reasoning." He also farcically demonstrates along the way that Rowley, who is "hardly second to Shakespeare," and Ossian, who is "on a level with Homer and Virgil," were in fact the genuine authors of the poems ascribed to them. Warren p.84. (Chatterton). MILLES, Jacob. POEMS, Supposed to Have Been Written at Bristol, in the Fifteenth Century, by Thomas Rowley… With a Commentary in Which the Antiquity of Them is Considered and Defended. London: for T. Payne and Son…, 1782. 4to, xx, 545, (2)pp. Contemp. half calf over marbled boards, spine tooled in blind & lettered in gilt. Boards rubbed, light marginal browning, very good. $300. ¶ "This edition of the Rowley Poems… was intended to refute the evidence in Tyrwhitt’s ‘Appendix’ to the third edition (1778) that the Poems had been forged and to prove that the author of them was, in fact, the fifteenth century priest that Chatterton claimed he was. The edition, though dated 1782, was actually published by Thomas Payne before Christmas Day, 1781. In a letter dated 25 December 1781, George Steevens wrote to the Reverend William Cole that ‘neither Bryant nor Milles will gain additional credit by their respective works… Tyrwhitt is preparing to answer them both.’ That answer came in the Vindication of the Appendix (1782). On 21 January 1782 Steevens again wrote to Cole: ‘You know, I imagine, that Tyrwhitt, Tom Wharton, Mr. Malone, and others have taken up their pens in opposition to the books of Bryant and Milles. My friend Dr. Johnson says, he is very sorry for the former, who possesses a very great and deserved reputation; as to the Dean’s [i.e. Dean Milles’] performance, it is everywhere treated as it deserves; and to its fate he resigns it without concern’" (Warren p.49). Milles’ edition, which contains six items not found in Tyrwhitt’s previous editions, sparked off several of the most important rebuttals to the poems’ authenticity: Mickle’s Prophecy of Queen Emma, Malone’s Cursory Observations, Wharton’s Enquiry, the anonymous Archaelogical Epistle attributed to William Mason, and the anonymous pamphlet, An Examination of the Poems Attributed to Thomas Rowley and William Canynge. All of these were published in 1782. Warren 7. CHATTERTON, (Thomas). OEUVRES COMPLETES… Traduites par Javelin Pagnon, Précedées d’une vie de Chatterton par A. Callet. Paris: Desessart, 1839. 2 vols, 8vo, (4), 399; (4), 336pp. Contemp. quarter green morocco over marbled boards, spine lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers. Light wear to extremities, piece of marbling from lower corner on back board of vol. I torn off, still very good. $100. ¶ First Edition in French. NUC cites one copy, at Wisconsin. CHATTERTON, Thomas. POEMS, Supposed to Have Been Written at Bristol, by… and Others, in the Fifteenth Century; The Greatest Part Now First Published from the Most Authentic Copies, With an Engraved Specimen of One of the MSS. To Which Added, A Preface, An Introductory Account of the Several Pieces, and a Glossary. London: for T. Payne and Son, 1777. 8vo, xxiii, 307pp, engraved plate replicating manuscript. Contemp. smooth calf, ruled in gilt, red morocco label, spine tooled in gilt, marbled endpapers. Headcap chipped, otherwise very good, with armorial bookplate of Thomas Cotten Shephard. $300. ¶ Second edition. The errata of the first edition are herein corrected, but there are no other verbal changes. Tyrwhitt wrote to George Catcott, the owner of several Chatterton manuscipts, that the "little additions or improvements, which might be made [in the second edition], would not justify the injury which the Purchasers of the former Edition would suffer by having the value of their Books diminished." Warren 3. FIRST ISSUE [CHATTERTON, Thomas]. POEMS, Supposed to Have Been Written at Bristol, by Thomas Rowley, and Others, in the Fifteenth Century; The Greatest Part Now First Published from the Most Authentic Copies, With an Engraved Specimen of One of the MSS. To Which Are Added, a Preface, an Introductory Account of the Several Pieces, and a Glossary. London: for T. Payne and Son, 1777. 8vo, xxvii, 333pp, 1 engraved plate. Modern polished calf by Zaehnsdorf, compartments tooled in gilt, black morocco labels, gilt dentelles, t.e.g. Lightest scuffing to boards & barest wear to extremities, otherwise fine, with the attractive bookplate of Thomas McKee. $2500. ¶ First Edition, first issue with the uncancelled reading at C4. This leaf of "Advertisement" reads: "The Reader is desired to observe, that the notes at the bottom of the several pages, throughout the following part of this book, are all copied from a MSS in the handwriting of Thomas Chatterton, and were probably composed by him." In later states, the editor (the first of the Rowley poems), Thomas Tyrwhitt, omitted the phrase, "and were probably composed by him," so as to remain more impartial about the authorship of the MSS. Tyrwhitt’s preface contains one of the earliest discussions about the authenticity of the Rowley poems, but Tyrwhitt did not yet believe that it was appropriate for the editor to decide the question of authenticity. Ashley X, p.75. Hayward 188. Rothschild 589. Warren 2. [CHATTERTON, Thomas]. POEMS, Supposed to Have Been Written at Bristol, by Thomas Rowley, and Others, in the Fifteenth Century; The Greatest Part Now First Published from the Most Authentic Copies, With an Engraved Specimen of One of the MSS. To Which Are Added, a Preface, an Introductory Account of the Several Pieces, and a Glossary. London: for T. Payne and Son, 1777. 8vo, xxvii, 333pp. Full polished calf, ruled in gilt, red morocco label, marbled edges, marbled endpapers. Neatly rebacked, light general wear, title page lightly foxed, bookplate, very good. $750. ¶ First Edition, second issue with the cancelled reading at C4, which omits the phrase indicating that the notes at the bottom of the pages "were probably composed by" Chatterton. Tyrwhitt omitted the phrase so as to remain more impartial about the authorship of the MSS. Tyrwhitt’s preface contains one of the earliest discussions about the authenticity of the Rowley poems, but Tyrwhitt did not yet believe that it was appropriate for the editor to decide the question of authenticity. Ashley X, p.75. Hayward 188. Rothschild 589. Warren 2. [CHATTERTON, Thomas]. POEMS, Supposed to Have Been Written at Bristol, by Thomas Rowley, and Others, in the Fifteenth Century; The Greatest Part Now First Published from the Most Authentic Copies, With an Engraved Specimen of One of the MSS. To Which Are Added, a Preface, an Introductory Account of the Several Pieces, and a Glossary. London: for T. Payne and Son, 1777. 8vo, xxvii, 333pp. Full calf, red morocco label, light general wear, armorial bookplate of William Pym, and signature of S.M.Trevelyan. Very good. $500. ¶ First Edition, second issue with the cancelled reading at C4, which omits the phrase indicating that the notes at the bottom of the pages "were probably composed by" Chatterton. Tyrwhitt omitted the phrase so as to remain more impartial about the authorship of the MSS. Tyrwhitt’s preface contains one of the earliest discussions about the authenticity of the Rowley poems, but Tyrwhitt did not yet believe that it was appropriate for the editor to decide the question of authenticity. Ashley X, p.75. Hayward 188. Rothschild 589. Warren 2. CHATTERTON, Thomas. POEMS, Supposed to Have Been Written at Bristol, by Thomas Rowley, and Others, in the Fifteenth Century… to Which is Added an Appendix, Containing Some Observations upon the Language of These Poems: Tending to Prove, That They Were Written, Not by Any Ancient Author, But Entirely by Thomas Chatterton. London: for T. Payne and Son, 1778. 8vo, (2), xxviii, 333pp, engraved plate replicating manuscript. Contemp. mottled calf, ruled in gilt, red morocco label, speckled edges. Hinges repaired, signature to half title, occasional spot of foxing, very good, with attractive bookplate. $300. ¶ Third Edition of Tyrwhitt’s edition of the Rowley poems, but the first with the controversial "Appendix," in which Tyrwhitt concludes that the poems’ author was indeed Chatterton. Hitherto Tyrwhitt had been reluctant to cast judgement, but his inspection of several of the manuscripts and, perhaps, the weight of the opinions of Johnson and Boswell — they had recently visited Bristol — encouraged him to change his mind about the authenticity of the poems and about his duties as their editor. Warren 4. COLERIDGE’S SECOND APPEARANCE IN PRINT (CHATTERTON, Thomas). POEMS, Supposed to Have Been Written at Bristol in the 15th Century by Thomas Rowley. Cambridge: D. Flower for the Editor, 1794. 8vo, xxix, (3), 329pp, additional title engraved with vignette, 1 engraved plate. Contemp. boards, edges uncut. Spine worn with small piece chip, armorial bookplate. Very good, in a fine quarter morocco slipcase lettered in gilt. $750. ¶ Fifth Edition, the first to contain Coleridge's Monody on the Death of Chatterton. This was one of Coleridge's earliest poems and forms his second appearance in print, preceded only by a poem published in a newspaper in 1793. This version differs from versions generally given in Coleridge's works. "This Monody was one of the first poems (if not the very first) of any importance composed by Coleridge, and down to the end of his life, he never missed an opportunity of tinkering it" (Campbell). The preface is signed L.S. [i.e. Lancelot Sharpe]. Ashley VIII, p.91. Rothschild 590. Tinker 671. Warren 13A. Haney IV, 1. Wise, Coleridge, pp.97-8; Two Lake Poets, p.56. COLERIDGE’S SECOND APPEARANCE IN PRINT (CHATTERTON, Thomas). POEMS, Supposed to Have Been Written at Bristol in the 15th Century by Thomas Rowley. Cambridge: D. Flower for the Editor, 1794. 8vo,pp.iii-xxix, (5, printed title has been bound after preliminaries), 329pp, additional title engraved with vignette, 1 engraved plate. Quarter calf over marbled boards, velin corners, previous owner’s inscription & scribble to engraved title, general wear, very good. $450 ¶ Fifth Edition, the first to contain Coleridge's Monody on the Death of Chatterton. This was one of Coleridge’s earliest poems and forms his second appearance in print, preceded only by a poem published in a newspaper in 1793. This version differs from versions generally given in Coleridge's works. "This Monody was one of the first poems (if not the very first) of any importance composed by Coleridge, and down to the end of his life, he never missed an opportunity of tinkering it" (Campbell). The preface is signed L.S. [i.e. Lancelot Sharpe]. Ashley VIII, p.91. Rothschild 590. Tinker 671. Warren 13A. Haney IV, 1. Wise, Coleridge, pp.97-8; Two Lake Poets, p.56. CHATTERTON, Thomas. THE POETICAL WORKS OF… With Notices of His Life, History of the Rowley Controversy, a Selection of His Letters, and Notes Critical and Explanatory. Cambridge: for W.P. Grant, 1842. 2 vols, 8vo, (2), clxviii, 302; vipp, pp.321-728, additional engraved titles, portrait frontispiece, 3 folding facsimile documents, 1 engraved plate. Orig. black ribbed cloth, blocked in blind, spine lettered in gilt. Front hinge of vol. I cracked, owner’s signature to endpaper, otherwise very good, with attractive woodcut bookplates & previous owner’s notes tipped in. $100. ¶ First Edition of this collection of poems, with much ancilliary material, including facsimiles of documents and the harrowing text of Chatterton’s will, which was written, in part, in verse, and which includes the epitaphs Chatterton wrote for himself. Also included are Chatterton’s account of the "De Bergham" family and an engraving of their arms, the whole being a fabrication by Chatterton. The volumes were edited by C.B. Willcox. CHATTERTON, Thomas. THE WORKS OF THOMAS CHATTERTON. Containing His Life, by G[eorge] Gregory and Miscellaneous Poems. London: Biggs & Cottle for T.N. Longman…, 1803. 3 vols, 8vo, (10), clx, 361, (1); (6), 536; (6), 537, (1)pp. Modern brown pebbled cloth, black cloth labels, marbled edges. Prelim. blank of each vol. elaborately signed by A 19th century owner, light occasional foxing, otherwise fine. $400. ¶ First Collected Edition of Chatterton’s works, edited by Robert Southey and Joseph Cottle. Southey began advertising the proposed publication almost as soon as he conceived of the project, but when the publishers failed to raise enough subscribers, they printed a dismal 350 copies for them. While the edition has little independent textual authority, it does print many items for the first time. To the table of contents in each volume is affixed the following statement: "The Pieces to which Asterisks are prefixed are now first collected or printed." In the three volumes a total of 112 pieces are asterixed, of which 52 are taken from Chatterton’s manuscripts. The volume also includes all of Chatterton’s letters known at the time, and notes, indicating the sources from which the various items are drawn, are included. Among the 335 subscribers listed in vol. I are George Catcott (a recipient of the manuscripts of many of Chatterton’s fabrications), Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the Duchess of Devonshire, the Countess of Granard, Joseph Haslewood, the Countess of Kingston, the Earl and Countess of Moira, La Princesse Joseph de Monaco, and the Earl and Countess of Oxford. (Chatterton). VIGNY, Alfred de. CHATTERTON. Édition Définitive (Extrait des Oevres Complètes). Paris: Librairie Ch. Delagrave, [1907?] 12mo, (6)pp, pp.10-156, several attractive ornaments. Quarter calf over marbled boards, spine lettered in gilt. Light general external wear, internally clean, very good. $45. ¶ Attractive edition of de Vigny’s greatest work, based on the life of Chatterton. In this drama, the young poet takes lodging with John Bell, a prosperous businessman, in hope of freeing up enough time so that he can write poetry and pay his debts. Affection develops between the poet and Bell’s wife, Kitty, who so far has known no emotion more powerful than maternal love. The poet writes to the Lord Mayor of London, an old friend of his father, that he might help him find some employment. As the Lord Mayor is about to answer the letter in person, some former friends reveal Chatterton’s identity, and Lord Mayor accuses him of plagiarism. His hopes dashed, the poet goes to his room, burns his manuscripts, and takes poison. Kitty Bell has followed, in order to tell him of her love and belief in him. She too dies — of grief. NUC cites one copy of this edition at the New York Public Library. ONE OF 200 COPIES HAND-CORRECTED BY WALPOLE (Chatterton). [WALPOLE, Horace].
A LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE MISCELLANIES OF THOMAS CHATTERTON. Strawberry-Hill: pr. by
T. Kirgate. 1779 8vo, (4), 55pp. [with] CHATTERTON, Thomas. MISCELLANIES IN PROSE AND
VERSE by Thomas Chatterton, The Supposed Author of the Poems Published under the Names of
Rowley, Canning, &c. London: for Fielding and Walker, 1778. 8vo, xxxii, 245, (2,
ads)pp, frontispiece engravign. Contemp. mottled calf, decoratively ruled in gilt, spine
tooled in gilt, red morocco label, marbled endpapers. Joints lightly rubbed, corners worn,
very good, with armorial bookplate & erotic poem attributed to Chatterton very neatly
penned to final blank page. ¶ Two First Editions. The second
title, edited by John Broughton, is a collection of items printed in various periodicals.
In a letter dated May 6, 1770, Chatterton, through his friend Cary, instructed Broughton
and twelve others to search the Freeholder’s Magazine for his poems. Broughton’s
claim, that the items in the Miscellanies are "genuine and acknowledged productions
of Thomas Chatterton," has recently been questioned by D.S. Taylor, who holds several
of the pieces as of spurious authorship. Equally interesting about this work though, is
the preface, in which Broughton accuses of Walpole of treating Chatterton with such
"neglect and contempt" that the poet killed himself, depriving the world of the
rest of his genius. The poor Chatterton had sent Walpole one of his "finds," The
Ryse of Peyncting in Englande, "written by T. Roleie 1469 for Mestre Canynge,"
with the hope of receiving some patronage. After first taking the bait, Walpole was
advised about the likelihood of the poems’ inauthenticity. He then cruelly wrote the
young poet: "When you have made your fortune you may unbend in your favorite
studies." He also refused for some while to return the manuscript. The first title,
then, in this volume is Walpole’s aplologia, a defence of his own behavior toward
Chatterton, written in response to Broughton’s accusations. He claims that Chatterton
was not so poor as Broughton claimed and that had he himself encouraged a forger to
"marry… the nine muses," "his ingenuity in counterfeiting styles
and… hands might easily have led him to those more facile imitations of prose,
promissory notes." Despite the apparent indignance evidenced in this defence, Walpole
would later state, "I do not believe there ever existed so masterly a genius."
Only 200 copies of this letter were printed, and Hazen can locate only nine. On p.22 is
Walpole’s hand-lettered correction of "elequence" to "elegance."
First title: Warren 5. Rothschild 2500. Second title: Hazen, Walpole, 23. Hazen,
Strawberry Hill, 27. Rothschild 2500. Warren p.92. (Chromolithography). SONGS OF THE DAWN. Selections From the Poems of Horatius Bonar, Charlotte Murray and Others. London: James E. Hawkins, New York: E.P. Dutton, [n.d., ca. 1889]. 8vo, (32)pp, 32 chromolithographs. Sky blue cloth, black lettered spine, illus. boards in gilt, red, green, and black, beveled edges, aeg, decorative endpapers, owner’s inscription, mild wear to extremities, light soiling to boards, otherwise tight, clean, very good. $100. ¶ First (only) Edition. A beautiful volume of Christian religious verse illustrated with chromolithographs depicting scenes from nature. Bonar (1808-1889) was a popular evangelical preacher, celebrated hymn-writer, religious essayist, and composer of evangelical poetry. The present volume, apparently issued in the year of his death, is quite scarce; not found in any standard reference, and NUC lists only two library holdings. CHURCH, Peggy Pond. FORETASTE. Sante Fe: Writers’ Editions, (1933). 8vo, (8), 73, (1, colophon)pp. Orig. aqua-marine cloth, fine in near fine dust jacket. $135. ¶ First Edition, one of 250 signed copies, this one inscribed by the author. Printed at the Rydal Press, the work is one of the earliest imprints of Writers’ Editions, an association of writers and poets who formed the first self-publishing group in America. Weigle & Fiore p.200. CLARKSON, L[ida]. INDIAN SUMMER, Autumn Poems & Sketces. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1881. 4to, (28)pp, chromo title, dedication, contents page, and 12 chromolithographic plates. Red cloth stamped in gilt and black with cat-tails and decorative lettering, light wear to edges, overall very good. $450. ¶ First Edition. "Although the great age of the gift books was before the Civil War, the genre lived on in the 1870s and 1880s, generally illustrated with chromolithographs on botanical themes combined with poetry. The artist, Lida Clarkson, who also published works on home decorationa and art instruction, produced a clutch of similar volumes. The heavy inking and rather oily colors were a deliberate effort to imitate the look of oil painting" (Reese). Bennett, American Color Plate Books, p.24. Reese, Stamped with a National Character, 60. FIRST BOOK COOLBRITH, Ina. A PERFECT DAY, And Other Poems. San Francisco [printed for the author by James H. Carmany & Co.], 1881. Sm 8vo, viii, 9-173pp, gilt stamped brown cover, spine faded and chipped, corners slightly bumped, otherwise a good copy. $300. ¶ First Edition of Coolbrith’s first book, Author’s Special Subscription Edition. Born in Nauvoo, Missouri, Coolbrith was the niece of the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith. Her family emigrated to California in 1852, living in Los Angeles before moving to San Francisco in 1865 where she, Bret Harte and Charles Warren Stoddard formed the heart of the San Francisco literary renaissance. She was the only female member in the history of the Bohemian Club (where she worked as librarian) and in 1915 she was named poet laureate of California at the PPIE. While working for the Oakland Public Library she befriended the young Jack London and encouraged his pursuit of literature. She published only three books of poetry. Hinkel II, 65. CORBIERE, Tristan [Edouard Joachim]. SELECTIONS FROM LES AMOURS JAUNES, Translated with an Introduction and Notes by C.F. MacIntyre. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1954. 8vo, x, 242pp, frontis. Cloth. Very good in dust jacket. $25. ¶ First Edition. Parallel texts. Parks & Temple p.263. CORNFORD, Francis. FIFTEEN POEMS FROM THE FRENCH. Edinburgh: Tragara Press, 1976. 8vo, 39pp. Patterned wrappers, white paper title label., neglible creasing at extremities, otherwise fine. $85. ¶ First Edition, number 42 of 125 copies. A beautiful volume with translations of Apollinaire, Aragon, Baudelaire, Mallarmeé, Verlaine, etc. With original French text in verso. CORSO, Gregory. GASOLINE AND THE
VESTAL LADY OF BRATTLE. Introduction by Allen Ginsberg. San Francisco: City Lights,
[1976]. 12mo, wrappers. Very good. ¶ First combined edition of Corso’s first two books. Number 8 in the pocket Poet Series which, when first issued in 1958, did not include The Vestal Lady of Brattle. Cook pp.29-30. CORY, William [pseud. of William Johnson] IONICA. London: George Allen, 1858. Sm. 8vo, iv 116pp. Full blue morocco, gilt and blind rule, gilt title, a.e.g., signature of Stewart Headlan, 1867. Fine. $450. ¶ First Edition of Cory’s first book. Cory (1823-92) was educated at Eton, returned there as master in 1845, but suddenly was dismissed from his post in 1872. Smith remarks he was "the best literary spokesman for encouraging romantic love within and without the schoolwalls." Young, The Male Homosexual in Literature, 813. D’Arch Smith, Love in Earnest, pp.4-11 & 246-7. Carter, "A Hand-List of the Printed Works of William Johnson," 84-5. Hayward 275 (ref.). Cf. Esher pp.240-3. COTTON, Charles. POEMS FROM THE WORKS OF CHARLES COTTON, Newly Decorated by Claud Lovat Fraser. London: Poetry Workshop, (1922). 8vo, 49pp, illustrated throughout by Lovat Fraser. White buckram deocrated in gilt. Lightly soiled, near fine. $40. ¶ One of 300 copies only. CRAPSEY, Adelaide. VERSE. Rochester, N.Y.: The Manas Press, 1915. 12mo, 95pp. Orig. gray cloth, front board & spine lettered in gilt. Light general wear, very good. From the collection of Sanda B. Abbott, sister of Bernard Berenson. $75. ¶ First Edition of the
author’s first book. Adelaide Crapsey (1878-1914) was the daughter of Algernon Sidney
Crapsey, the last minister of the Episcopal Church to be tried for heresy. She grew up in
Rochester, attended Vassar College, and, during the remainder of her brief life, taught
poetry at Smith College. Most of her poetry was written in the last year of her life,
which was abruptly ended by tuberculosis. Published posthumously, Verse, sensationally
popular in its day, introduced the poetic form, the cinquain. Derived from certain
Japanese lyric forms, the tonka and the haiku, it is a five-line, unrhymed stanza, with
successive lines of two, four, six, eight, and two feet. SPINSTER STAMMERINGS CRAPSEY, Adelaide. VERSE. Rochester, N.Y.: The Manas Press, 1915. 12mo, 95pp. Orig. gray cloth, front board & spine lettered in gilt, stained. Fair copy $35. ¶ First Edition of the author’s first book. Adelaide Crapsey (1878-1914) was the daughter of the noted heterodox minister Algernon Sidney Crapsey. She grew up in Rochester, attended Vassar College, and during the remainder of her brief life taught poetry at Smith College. Most of her poetry was written in the last year of her life, which was abruptly ended by tuberculosis. Published posthumously, Verse, sensationally popular in its day, introduced a poetic form, the cinquain. Derived from certain Japanese lyric forms, the tonka and the haiku, it is a five-line, unrhymed stanza, with successive lines of two, four, six, eight, and two feet. Published by Claude Bragdon’s private press. BAL 4120. CULLEN, Countee. COLOR. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1925. 12mo, 108pp. Original patterned boards in the original green dust jacket, spine somewhat faded as usual, otherwise fine. $850. ¶ First Edition from the then 24-year old African American, whose extraordinary lyrical verses transcended racial barriers & distinguished him as one the best poets of the era. DAVIDSON, John. A RANDOM ITINERARY. London: Elkin Mathews & John Lane, 1894. 8vo, viii, 204, (2), 2, (14, ads), (2), engraved frontispiece, title page red. Orig. tan buckram, boards & spine stamped in gilt, t.e.g. Spine sunned, otherwise fine. $150. ¶ First Edition, limited to 600 copies, co-published by Copeland & Day in Boston. The binding, title and frontispiece were designed by Laurence Houseman. A volume of meandering philosophic reflection by the reluctant Scottish poet, who began his career as a novelist. Kraus, Messrs. Copeland & Day, 6. Krishnamurti, The Eighteen-Nineties, 177. DAVIDSON, John. NEW BALLADS. London: The Bodley Head, 1897. 8vo, 116, (13 ads)pp. Very good in cloth. $45. ¶ First Edition. DAY LEWIS, C[ecil]. SHORT IS THE TIME. Poems 1936-1943. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1945. 8vo. Original black cloth in lightly soiled dust jacket, unobtrusive contemporary inscription, otherwise, nearly fine. $40. ¶ First American Edition. DAY LEWIS, C[ecil]. THE POET’S WAY OF KNOWLEDGE. Cambridge: University Press, 1957. 8vo, 32pp. Original green decorated boards, fine in a red dust jacket with minor chipping & remains from a removed label on rear panel, very good. $40. ¶ First printing of the Henry Sidgwick Memorial Lecture for Cambridge University in 1956. (DAY-LEWIS, Cecil). HANDLEY-TAYLOR, Geoffrey & Timothy D’Arch Smith. C. DAY LEWIS. The Poete Laureate: A Bibliography. Chicago: St. James Press, 1968. 8vo, 43pp, photos. Original blue buckram in blue dust jacket, edges lightly worn, front endpaper slightly misglued, one signature strained, very good. $30. ¶ First Trade Edition, with a letter of introduction by W.H. Auden. DE LA MARE, Walter; Harold Jones, illustrator. THIS YEAR: NEXT YEAR. New York: Henry Holt, [1937]. 4to, unpaginated, color illustrations throughout. Orig. pictorial boards, illus. endpapers, minor wear to spine cap, otherwise fine; 1/2 inch chip & darkening to spine of dust jacket, very good. $150. ¶ First American Edition. A beatifully illustrated collection of poetry for children, printed in England. DICKEY, James. BUCKDANCER’S CHOICE. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University, (1966). 8vo, 79pp. Original illustrated grey wrappers, lightly soiled, very good. $45. ¶ Signed by the poet on the half-title. DICKEY, James. THE EYE-BEATERS, BLOOD, VICTORY, MADNESS, BUCKHEAD and MERCY. Garden City: Doubleday, 1970. 8vo, 63pp. Cloth. Fine with publisher’s slipcase. $75. ¶ One of 250 copies autographed by the author. Bruccoli & Clark p.94. DOBSON, Austin. OLD-WORLD IDYLLS and Other Verses. [with] AT THE SIGN OF THE LYRE. London: Kegan, Paul, Trench, 1885-6. 2 vols, 12mo, x, 247; x, 232, frontispiece engraving & Dobson’s engraved device as colophon. Full green morocco dated & signed by S.E.H., ruled in gilt, spine tooled in gilt, gilt dentelles, silk endpapers, t.e.g. Fine in very good leather-lined marbled slipcase. $300. ¶ Second editions, beautifully bound, of two of the lyric poet’s finest early collections. The second volume contains a frontispiece by Edwin Abbey. (Dodsley’s Miscellany). A COLLECTION OF POEMS BY SEVERAL HANDS. London: for J. Dodsley, 1775. 6 vols, 8vo, (4), 335; (4), 336; (4), 351; (4), 361; (4); 336; (4), 336pp; includes 145 engravings. Contemp. smooth calf, floral roll to board margins, spines tooled in gilt, natural morocco labels, marbled endpapers. Light wear to joints, occasional scratching to boards, light staining to margin of vol. I, still very good. $300. ¶ Early edition of the famous
"Dodsley’s Miscellany," considered "the best and most famous of the
eighteenth-century anthologies" (Elkin Mathews), which contains selections by Pope,
Fielding, Johnson, Whitehead, William Collins, Shenstone, James Thomson, Akenside, Soame
Jenyns and many others. James Dodsley (1724-1797) was the younger brother of Robert
Dodsley, the famous London bookseller and publisher. It was first issued in three volumes
in 1748. Cf. Suarez, "Dodsley’s Collection of Poems and the Ghost of Pope,"
in Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America vol 88:2, June 1994. DONNE, John. SOME POEMS AND A DEVOTION OF JOHN DONNE. Norfolk: New Directions, 1945. 8vo, Original green cloth in a lightly chipped & price-clipped dust jacket, spine & upper edge sunned, very good. $35. ¶ Printed by D.B. Updike at the Merrymount Press, from the "Poet of the Month Series." c.f. Keynes 143. [Doolittle, Hilda]. H.D. COLLECTED POEMS. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1925. 8vo, viii, 306pp. Teal cloth, gilt lettered. gilt ruled borders, light wear at extremities, light dappling to boards, moderately shelf-darkened spine, occasional mild foxing, owner’s signature, overall very good. $250. ¶ First Edition. DRAKE, Joseph Rodman & Fitz Greene Halleck. THE CROAKERS. New York: (Bradford Club), 1960. 4to, viii, 191, (1)pp, 2 frontis. Orig. full black morocco, spine gilt. Slight foxing to frontis., otherwise fine. $450. ¶ First complete edition, one of a 150 numbered copies in a total edition of 250. Secretly submitted to the New York Evening Post and National Advertiser in 1819, these satircal poems addressing local and current themes made their authors the first to make Broadway, its politics and people, a source of literary discussion. Of the 35 poems in the original series, 14 are attributed to Drake ("Croaker") and 13 to Halleck ("Croaker, Jr."). Both central figures in the Knickerbocker Club, Drake and Halleck achieved immense fame for these poems, whose authorship they never acknowledged. Alfred Kreymborg called them "the first newspaper columnists, with whom "an age of entertainment had arrived, a type of amusement castigated in Puritan New England." Quite rare, the volume contains seven poems by Drake collected here for the first time. An unauthorized briefer edition, containing only 24 selections, was published in 1819. BAL 4835. PRESENTATION COPY DRINKWATER, John. SWORDS AND PLOUGHSHARES. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1915. 16mo, 56, (8, ads)pp. Orig. red cloth with paper label, extra paper label tipped in. Includes erratum sheet. In a red chemise and quarter red morocco slipcase.Very good. $250. ¶ First Edition, a presentation copy to Eden Phillpotts, dated 1916. NCBEL IV, p.263. DUMONT, Henrietta. THE FLORAL OFFERING: A Token of Affection and Esteem; Comprising The Language and Poetry of Flowers. With Coloured Illustrations From Original Drawings. Philadelphia: H.C. Peck, 1860. 8vo, 300pp, frontispiece, 5 hand-colored illus. Blue cloth, gilt letterd and ornamented spine, blocked in blind, lt.-mod. wear at extremities, front hinge starting, edges with expected soiling, overall very good $75. ¶ A lovely collection of fact and poetry on over 110 flowers, including a dictionary with their emblematic significance, a calendar of flowers by month and day, and a dial of flowers indicating their hours of opening and shutting. Highlighted with beautiful hand-colored illustrations.The original issue of 1851 and subsequent editions are quite scarce, including this, apparently the third. DURRELL, Lawrence. COLLECTED POEMS. 1931-1974. Edited by James A. Bingham. London: Faber & Faber, (1980). 8vo, 350pp. Orig. blue cloth in dust jacket, fine. $50. ¶ Third edition, "completely revised." The dust jacket features a reproduction of an etching by Henry Moore. DWIGHT, Timothy. THE CONQUEST OF CANÄAN; A Poem, in Eleven Books. Hartford: Elisha Babcock, 1785. 8vo, (8), 304pp. Full contemp. calf, red morocco label. Rubbing to joints & extremities, free endpapers gone, signature & marginal browning to title, occasional foxing, otherwise very good, with the bookplate of Paul Jordan Smith. $200. ¶ First Edition of the first American epic poem, an allegory in which Dwight "clumsily equates the conquest of Canaan, as narrated in the Old Testament, with the taking of the Connecticut from the British…The incongruity of the eras depicted, and the highfalutin style, at times become ludicrous. W.C. Bronson calls the poem ‘an honest, respectable piece of work,’ but holds it is without a glimmer of genius or even high talent" (Herzberg). One English critic defied anyone to read the poem "without yawning an hundred times," and Alexander Cowie remarked that Dwight and fellow epic poet Joel Barlow, in competition to win fame for their epics, were both "lured to their ultimate ruin in morasses of heroic couplets." Timothy Dwight (1752-1817), grandson of Jonathan Edwards, was ready for college at eight, though he did not enter Yale until thirteen. After a career as a teacher, chaplain in the Continental Army, and literary man, he returned to Yale as its president in 1795. Although he was a great preacher, theologian, and administrator, his confidence and ready judgment earned him the dislike of some. V.L. Parrington said of him: "The great Timothy seems to a later generation to have been little more than a walking depository of the venerable Connecticut status quo." BAL 5040. Evans 18996. Sabin 21548. Wegelin 128. EASTMAN, Max. LOT’S WIFE. New York: Harper & Brothers, (1942). 8vo, ix, 43pp. Orig. cloth, fine in fine dust jacket. $50. ¶ First Edition of the Marxist philosopher’s poetic retelling of the story of Sodom’s destruction. EBERHART, Richard. COLLECTED POEMS 1930-1960, Including 52 New Poems. New York: Oxford UP, 1960. 8vo, xii, 228pp. Cloth, very good in dust jacket. Signature of novelist Harry Brown, with some underlining by him. $35. ¶ First Edition. Eberhart served as Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress. Bruccoli & Clark I, p.110. EBERHART, Richard. SELECTED POEMS. London: Chatto and Windus, 1951. 8vo, (8), 86pp. Signed by Harry Brown, novelist, some underlining by him. Orig. cloth, very good in dust jacket. $35. ¶ First English Edition. ECCLES, Francis Yvon. A CENTURY OF FRENCH POETS, Being a Selection Illustrating the History of French Poetry During the Last Hundred Years, with an Introduction, Biographical & Critical Notices of the Writers Represented, a Summary of the Rules of French Versification, and a Commentary, by… London: Archibald Constable, 1909. 8vo, xvi, 399, t.e.g. Fine in red cloth. $20.
ELIOT, T[homas] S[tearns]. POETRY AND DRAMA. London: Faber & Faber, (1951). 8vo, red cloth in blue dust jacket, fine. $75. ¶ First British edition of Elliot’s Theodore Spencer Memorial Lecture for Harvard University November 21, 1950. Gallup A55b. ELIOT, T[homas] S[tearns]. THE COCKTAIL PARTY. A Comedy. New York: Harcourt, Brace, (1950). 8vo, 167pp. Original black cloth in yellow dust jacket, one closed tear, nearly fine. $100. ¶ First Edition, second state with cancel leaf on page 35-36, only "about ten copies (at most)" are in the first state. Gallup A55b. ELIOT, T[homas] S[tearns] THE THREE VOICES OF POETRY. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1954. 8vo, original blue cloth in grey dust jacket, faint red mark on front endpaper, miniscule hole to spine of jacket, otherwise fine. $80. ¶ First American printing of Elliot’s lecture to the National Book League in England on November 19, 1953. ELIOT, T[homas] S[terns]. FOUR QUARTETS. London: Faber & Faber, [1944]. 8vo, 44pp. Original tan cloth, dust jacket with light browning to backstrip and edges. Very good. $300. ¶ First British edition in book form. One of the most powerful & ambitious works of the century. Gallup A43b. ELIOT, T.S. EAST COKER. London: Faber & Faber, 1941. 8vo, 15pp. Orig. peach dust jacket stapled over stiff cream wrapper, lightly soiled & slightest of foxing to a few leaves, discrete bookseller’s label, very good. $35. ¶ Fourth Impression of the poem later issued as the second section of Eliot’sThe Four Quartets (1943), arguably one of the most powerful & ambitious works of the twentieth century. ELIOT, T.S. THE DRY SALVAGES. London: Faber & Faber, (1941). 8vo, 15pp. Original light blue stapled wrappers, light soiling to covers, modern bookplate, otherwise very good. $50. ¶ First Issue of the poem, later part of Eliot’s The Four Quartets, one of the most powerful & ambitious works of the century. Gallup A39. (ELIOT, T.S.) & St.-J. Perse. ANABASIS, A Poem ... With Translation into English by T.S. Eliot. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1938. 8vo, 75pp. Original black cloth in grey dust jacket. Unobtrusive ownership signature, very good. $120. ¶ First American edition, 1000 copies printed. Mr. Eliot revised and corrected the translation from the original British first edition. Gallup A16d. EUWER, Anthony. BY SCARLET TORCH & BLADE. Rhymes of Our Valley & Other Poems by…With Illustrations by The Author. Portland, Oregon: Metropolitan Press, 1935. 8vo, 194pp. Orig. printed blue cloth, lettered in gilt, in sunned & chipped dust-jacket, a very good copy. $15. ¶ Signed by the Oregonian. Originally published in 1923. EVERSON, William. THESE ARE THE RAVENS. San Leandro: Greater West Publishing, 1935. 8vo, 11pp. Pinted self-wrappers. A very good copy. $300. ¶ First Edition, 1000 copies printed. [EVERSON, William]. BROTHER ANTONINUS. THE ROSE OF SOLITUDE. New York: Doubleday, 1967. 8vo, 104pp. Orig. cloth, dust jacket. $60. ¶ FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY inscribed to Dane Rudyhar in 1967 and again to John Knight in 1984. This copy has had several sections cut out, including the entire last section; unfortunately Knight, who sold us the book in 1988 without mentioning the lacking text, refused to indicate if he, Rudyhar or Everson had made the excisions. [EVERSON, William]. BROTHER ANTONINUS. THE ROSE OF SOLITUDE. New York: Doubleday, 1967. 8vo, 104pp. Orig. cloth, dust jacket. Very nice copy. $35. ¶ First Edition. [EVERSON, William]. Brother Antoninus, psued. THE CROOKED LINES OF GOD. Poems 1949-1954. Detroit: University of Detroit Press, 1959. Oblong 8vo, 89pp. Original black cloth backed boards, fine in a lightly soiled dust wrapper, otherwise nearly fine. $175. ¶ First Edition, signed by the poet, one of 1000 copies printed at the Albertus Magnus Press. FAUST, Frederick. [Max Brand]. THE VILLAGE STREET AND OTHER POEMS. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1922. 8vo, vi, 98pp. Original green boards. A very good copy. Ownership signature & inscription on front free endpaper. $250. ¶ First Edition, Faust’s first book of poetry and one of only two books published under his own name. While a student at Berkeley, Faust’s favorite form of writing was in verse. The University printed some 80 of his poems in their student publications and awarded him the prestigious Emily Chamberlain Cook Prize in 1914 for one of his poems. This copy belonged to former Los Angeles Times Literary Editor, Paul Jordan Smith who roomed with Faust at Berkeley in 1914-1915. Laid in are annotated (perhaps by Faust) poetry clippings, presumably from the Berkeley publications, including the "The Secret" which appears in the book in a variant form. FICKE, Arthur Davison. TUMULTUOUS SHORE AND OTHER POEMS. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1942. 8vo, xii, 110pp. Orig. cloth, fine in chipped dust jacket. With the signature of Paul Jordan Smith. $75. ¶ First Edition. This collection reflects thinking that Ficke did in 1941 on man’s condition. Poet, critic and novelist, Arthur Davison Ficke (1883-1945) divided his time between the study of Japanese art and his own belles lettres. With Witter Bynner he wrote the burlesque poems known Spectra. FIRBANK, Ronald. SANTAL. London: Grant Richards, 1921. Tall 8vo. Original rose wrappers, untrimmed edes, fading to coers, very good. ¶ First Edition, 300 copies printed. Benkovitz A8. FITTS, Dudley. SIXTY POEMS OF MARTIAL, in Translation. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, [1967]. 8vo, 127pp. Cloth back boards, very good in dust jacket. $50. ¶ With T.L.S. from Fitts to author Harry Brown. A lively letter which contains his opinions of Martial: "he can be a bore & usually is when he isn’t being dirty." First edition of this translation, signed and dated by Harry Brown. FITZGERALD, Edward. MISCELLANIES. London: Macmillan, 1900. 12mo, vii, 207, 4 (ads)pp. Orig. cloth, nearly fine, with the signature of Paul Jordan Smith. $50. ¶ First Edition, including the first printing of several items. FLETCHER, John Gould. THE BURNING MOUNTAIN. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1946. 8vo, 96pp. Orig. cloth, a fine copy in a very good dust jacket. $60. ¶ First Edition, signed by the author. Laid in a two-page Christmas give-away by Fletcher, a poem entitled "The Tree at Hiroshima." FLOWER, Desmond, editor. THE PURSUIT OF POETRY. A Book of Letters about Poetry written by English Poets 1550-1930. London: Cassell, (1939). 8vo, xv, 310pp. Orig. black cloth with spotting to front board in dust jacket with lightly chipped spine edges, very good. $35. ¶ First Edition. FORD, Charles Henri THE GARDEN OF DISORDER And Other Poems. With an Introduction by William Carlos Williams and a Frontispiece by Pavel Tchelitchew. Norfol, Conn: New Directions, [1943]. 8vo, 78pp. Green cloth. Fine in illus. dust jacket. $175. ¶ First American Edition, stamped on front endpaper "Review Copy, Publication Date Oct. 10 1928." The sheets of the Europa Press edition, limited to approx. 500 copies. FORMAN, H. Buxton. THE POETICAL WORKS OF JOHN KEATS. Edited with an Introduction and Textual Notes. London: Humphrey Milford for Oxford University Press. (1940). Small 8vo, lxxxvii, 496pp, 2 plates including frontis. Contemporary full red morocco, gilt panelled back strip, dentelles. Lightly worn joints & backstrip, bookplate. Nearly fine. $100. ¶ Later printing of all Keats’ known works in verse in attractive binding. FORREST, Bernard A. NOT ALL I SEE IS THERE. Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1980. 4to, 69pp + plates, some in color. Yellow cloth. Fine $65. ¶ One of 200 copies signed and numbered by the author, with an original water-color tipped in. FORREST, Bernard A. TITLED AND
UNTITLED, Poems. (Torrance): Hors Commerce, 1965. 8vo, (32)pp. Very good in wrappers. ¶ First Edition, inscribed by Forrest. One of 500 copies. FOSTER, Agness Greene. YOU & Some Others, the Decorations by Will Jenkins. San Francisco: Paul Elder, (1907). 12mo, orig. mauve boards, stamped in pink, very good. $30. ¶ First Edition. Designed by John Henry Nash and printed at the Tomoye Press. Hinkel p.106. FOSTER, Birket. PICTURES OF RUSTIC LANDSCAPE. With Passages in Prose & Verse Selected by John Davidson. New York: Longmans, Green, 1905. 4to, 238pp, portrait frontis. & 30 engraved plates. Original green cloth, gilt, decorated endpapers, exterior a bit worn, very good. $75. ¶ First American Edition of this finely produced collection. FROST, Robert. A FURTHER RANGE. New York: Henry Holt, (1936). 8vo, 102pp. Original burgandy cloth, spine lightly sunned, attractive contemporary bookplate, nearly fine. $60. ¶ First Trade Edition. FROST, Robert. A FURTHER RANGE, Book Six. New York: Henry Holt, (1936). 8vo, 102pp. Cloth. A fine copy in dust jacket (shaded at spine). $125. ¶ First Edition. Johnson p.195. FROST, Robert. A MASQUE OF REASON. New York: Henry Holt, (1945). 8vo, (6), 23pp. Orig. cloth, nearly fine, with the signature of Paul Jordan Smith. In a dust jacket with a defective spine. $45. ¶ First Edition. The work was published on the occasion of Robert Frost’s 70th birthday. FROST, Robert. FROM SNOW TO SNOW. New York: Henry Holt, 1936. 8vo, 20pp, frontispiece. Printed wrappers, grey lettered and bordered. Fine. $150. ¶ First Edition. Frost’s collection of 12 poems, each representing a month of the year. The frontispiece is a manuscript facsimile of December’s Stopping by Woods on A Snowy Evening. FROST, Robert. ONE MORE BREVITY. A New Poem by… It Comes to You with Warm Holiday Greetings at Christmas 1953 from Henry Holt and Company. [New York]: Henry Holt, 1953. 12mo, (9)pp. Orig. wrappers, inscription to title, otherwise fine. $35. ¶ First printing of this unnamed poem. FROST, Robert. THE PROPHETS REALLY PROPHESY AS MYSTICS THE COMMENTATORS MERELY AS STATISTICS. New York: Spiral Press, 1962. 12mo, (10)pp. Printed wrappers lettered in grey and brown. Fine. $25. ¶ First Edition of a new poem by Frost, with Christmas Greetings from Lillian Frost. FROST, Robert. WEST-RUNNING BROOK. New York: Henry Holt, (1928). 8vo. Original green cloth over green boards, illustrated gilt coverpiece, ink signatures, very good. $25. ¶ Early printing. (FROST, Robert). BLUMENTHAL, Joseph. ROBERT FROST AND HIS PRINTERS. Austin: W. Thomas Taylor, (1985). 4to, 106pp, incl. 31 plates. Original brown buckram, morocco spine label, gilt, in slipcase, fine. $65. ¶ First Edition, limited to 1000 copies. The author, who worked closely with Frost on several books at the Spiral Press, presents a detailed printing history of 29 of the poet’s fine press editions. Blumenthal not only writes about his own experiences, but also of several other printers and designers including Ruzicka, Dwiggins, Mosher, Ritchie et al. GATHORNE-HARDY, Robert. VILLAGE SYMPHONY and Other Poems. London: Collins, 1931. 8vo, 90pp. Cloth. Except for foxing on the spine and foredges of the dust jacket, a fine clean copy. $50. ¶ First Edition. COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS (Genthe). MACKAYE, Percy. SANCTUARY. A Bird Masque...Illustrated with Photographs in Color and Monotone by Arnold Genthe. NY: Stokes, 1914. 12mo, 71pp, 4 color photograph plates, 3 monotone plates, 2 half-page monotone plates, 7 initial letter photographic vignettes. Orig. cloth, gilt, photo pasted down to upper cover, light wear, a very good copy of a rare work. $150. ¶ First edition thus; the text had appeared the year before without illustrations. The play was written for the dedication of the bird sanctuary in Meriden, New Hampshire, and Genthe took the photos during the first performance there on September 12, 1913. President Wilson’s daughters were in the cast. (See As I Remember, p.128) GILES, Herbert A. CHINESE POETRY IN ENGLISH VERSE. London: Quaritch; Shanghai: Kelly & Walsh, 1898. 8vo, (4), 211, (1)pp. Half vellum, gilt, cloth boards. Very good. $150. ¶ Only Edition. Giles (1845-1935) had been in consular service in China when, in 1893, he was appointed Professor of Chinese at Cambridge. "He was probably the most potent influence in replacing the old English regard for things Chinese as merely queer or silly by an intelligent perception of the depth and beauty of the culture of China" (DNB). Printed by E.J. Brill in Leyden, as was Giles’ Chinese Biographical Dictionary of the same year. BEWICK’S "MOST EXTRAORDINARY EFFORT" GOLDSMITH, [Oliver] & PARNELL, [Thomas]. POEMS. London: W. Bulmer, 1795. 4to, xx, 76, pp, 4 engraved plates, engraved title, numerous ornaments to text. [bound with] [Anon.]. THE CRUSADERS, or The Minstrels of Acre. A Poem, in Six Cantos. London: T. Cadell & W. Davies, 1808. 4vo, (4), 152pp. Half morocco over cloth, spine lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, a.e.g. A very good copy, with the bookplate of Paul Jordan Smith. $450. ¶ Beautiful collected edition of
the poems of Goldsmith and Parnell. This finely printed edition is set in type designed by
William Martin, is printed on Whatman paper, with wood-engraved plates & numerous
ornaments drawn by by Robert Johnson and John Bewick and engraved by Thomas Bewick.
Speaking of these illustrations, Bulmer writes that they "‘form the most
extraordinary effort of the art of engraving upon wood, that ever was produced in any age,
or any country. Indeed it seems almost impossible that such delicate effects could be
obtained from blocks of wood’" (Hugo pp.32-3). Hugo 78. GORMAN, Jean Wright & Herbert S., compilers. THE PETERBOROUGH ANTHOLOGY. Being a Selection from the Work of the Poets who have been members of The MacDowell Colony. New York: Theatre Arts, 1923. 8vo, 202pp. Orig. blue cloth, gilt, spine ends lightly worn, ink inscriptions, very good. $45. ¶ First Edition, with poems by Hervey Allen, Mary Aldis, William Rose Benet, Laura Benet, Padraic Colum, Hermann Hagedorn, Babette Deutsch, Lola Ridge, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Alan Seeger, Elinor Wylie, et al. This copy has pasted-in ephemera and a long gift inscription from Agnes Emelie Peterson to Polly Adams, very likely related to contributor Katharine Adams (whose name has a pencil check mark next it). GOSSSE, Edmund. IN RUSSET & SILVER. London: William Heinemann, 1894. 8vo, xiii, 158pp. A good sound copy in buckram. $30. ¶ First Edition of this collection of poems. GRAVES, Robert. 5 PENS IN HAND. G |