Poetry
Rare Poetry Books & First-Edition Poetry Books for Sale Online
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"unscrew the locks from the doors! Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!": Rare Mimeographed Sheets of The Howl Produced for its First Reading. Preceding the First Edition and signed by Ginsberg and five others present at the Six Gallery in October of 1955
GINSBERG, Allen.
Howl, for Carl Solomon. Mimeographed for the Six Gallery Reading.
Two sheets from an exceptionally rare privately produced mimeographed printing of Howl, preceding the first edition. One of 25 copies printed on rectos only in purple ink typed by the poet Robert Creeley and printed by Marthe Rexroth at S.F State, where she was a secretary, for the famous Six Gallery reading (also known as Six Angels in the Same Performance). This event, which took place at 3110 Fillmore Street in San Francisco on October 7, 1955 was the first important public poetry exhibition heralding the West Coast literary revolution of the Beat Generation. At the reading, five talented young poets—Allen…
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 40140
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First edition of Guillaume Apollinaire's Poems (1898-1913); inscribed by him and Pablo Picasso
APOLLINAIRE, Guillaume. [Pablo Picasso].
Alcools: Poems (1898-1913). Avec un Portrait de L’Auteur par Pablo Picasso.
Paris: Mercure de France, 1913.
First edition of Apollinaire's first collection of poems, signed by him and Pablo Picasso. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles and raised bands to the spine, patterned endpapers, frontispiece portrait of the poet by Pablo Picasso. Association copy, inscribed by both Apollinaire and Pablo Picasso on front free endpaper, "A A P.N. Roinard son admirateur Guillaume Apollinaire" and "et pour Robert Valançay Picasso Paris Janvier 1940 et I." Apollinaire has also made five corrections to the text in ink on pages 71, 77, 92, 110 and 189. The recipient of Apollinaire's inscription, Paul-Napoléon Roinard, was a French…
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 128083
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Rare First Edition of Leonard Cohen's First Book, One of 400 copies Let Us Compare Mythologies; Warmly Inscribed by Him
COHEN, Leonard.
Let Us Compare Mythologies.
Montreal: McGill Poetry Series by Contact Press, 1956.
First edition of Cohen's first book, which explores philosophy, sexuality, death, a world of violent contrasts that would define his future literary and musical careers. Octavo, original cloth. With five full-page line illustrations by Freda Guttman. Presentation copy, warmly inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “For my friend Jo, Leonard January 1957.” Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. An excellent example of this rare first book, which reportedly, fewer than 400 copies of the first edition were printed (Nadel, 45).
Price: $30,000.00 Item Number: 107435
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Rare First Edition of Leonard Cohen's First Book, One of 400 copies Let Us Compare Mythologies; Inscribed by Him in the year of publication
COHEN, Leonard.
Let Us Compare Mythologies.
Montreal: McGill Poetry Series by Contact Press, 1956.
First edition of Cohen's first book, which explores philosophy, sexuality, death, a world of violent contrasts that would define his future literary and musical careers. Octavo, original cloth. With five full-page line illustrations by Freda Guttman. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author in the month of publication on the front free endpaper, "To Gery Levy, With best wishes Leonard Cohen May 1956." Near fine in a very good dust jacket with some expert restoration to the spine. An excellent example of this rare first book, which reportedly, fewer than 400 copies of the first edition were printed (Nadel, 45). Housed…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 128744
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"I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker, And in short, I was afraid": Rare First Edition of T.S. Eliot's Prufrock and Other Observations; One of only 500 Examples
ELIOT, T.S.
Prufrock and Other Observations.
London: The Egoist Ltd, 1917.
First edition of one of the most recognized voices in modern literature of the Nobel Prize-winning author's first book, one of only 500 examples. Octavo, original wrappers. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box. Rare and desirable.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 133599
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"Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December; And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor": First appearance in print of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven; In the Rare Original Wrappers
POE, Edgar Allan.
The Raven. [In The American Review: A Whig Journal of Politics, Literature, Art and Science. No. II February, 1845.
New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1845.
First appearance in print of The Raven, one of the most famous and recognizable poems ever written, which Poe considered his finest poem, calling it “the greatest poem that was ever written.” Octavo, original wrappers. In keeping with the policy of The American Review which required that poems be published anonymously or with a pseudonym, the poem, which appears on page 143 is credited to 'Quarles.' In very good condition. Rare in the original wrappers.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 136274
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"The passion spreads in wide tongues, choked and slow, meeting the gulf, hosanna silently below": First edition of Hart Crane's landmark modernist epic the bridge; inscribed by him to close friend Bob Thompson
CRANE, Hart.
The Bridge: A Poem.
New York: Horace Liveright, 1930.
First American edition of Crane's landmark modernist epic. Octavo, original blue cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel, illustrated with three photographs by Walter Evans. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper one month after publication, "For Bob Thompson, from his friend always- Hart Crane, Brooklyn, April 30." The recipient, Robert Thompson, was a close friend of Crane's. During the early part of 1930, Thompson and Crane spent what John Unterecker described as "wild evenings" in New York. Thompson was "a good drinking companion whom Hart in the summer would recommend to Caresse…
Price: $22,500.00 Item Number: 123618
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“I touch your book and dream of our odyssey in the supermarket and feel absurd": First Edition of The Howl and Other Poems; Inscribed by Allen Ginsberg to fellow poet José García Villa
GINSBERG, Allen.
Howl and Other Poems.
San Francisco: City Lights, 1959.
First edition of this principal work of the Beat Generation. Small octavo, original wrappers as issued. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page to fellow poet, writer and artist José García Villa, "416 E 34 St Paterson Allen Ginsberg to Jose G Villa after years." The recipient José García Villa was born in Manila in 1908, before moving to New Mexico to pursue his studies, and ultimately to Greenwich Village in New York City. There, he joined a community of modernist poets, including e.e. cummings, Marianne Moore, W.H. Auden, among others, and was affectionately known as "The…
Price: $22,500.00 Item Number: 128745
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“It’s a Snark! was the sound that first came to their ears, And seemed almost too good to be true": Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark; in the scarce original dust jacket, of which only a few are known to exist
CARROLL, Lewis. [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson].
The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits.
London: Macmillan and Co., 1876.
First edition of Carroll's whimsical nonsense poem. Octavo, original publisher's decorated cloth, all edges gilt, with nine illustrations by Henry Holiday. Near fine in the scarce original dust jacket. The jacket is complete with the top third of the front panel bent behind, hence the different shade of color. Copies of the first edition of Hunting of the Snark in the dust jacket of the utmost scarcity, with no more than a handful of copies known.
Price: $22,500.00 Item Number: 130492
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"I hope that this book ain't so silly and that it will always remain in the cas[s]a": First Edition of Where the Sidewalk Ends, Signed by Shel Silverstein; Inscribed to the Children of His Editor
SILVERSTEIN, Shel.
Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings.
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1974.
First edition of the author's first collection of children's poetry. Stated first edition on the copyright page. Small quarto, original brown cloth, illustrated. Association copy, inscribed by Shel Silverstein with an original poem on the front free endpapers to the children of his editor and publicist William Cole, "For Alex and Rossa and Billy, I hope that this book ain't so silly and that it will always remain in the cas[s]a (The superfluous 's' has been scribbled out with footnote "Bill Cole's Incessant Editorial Meddling") of Billy and Alex Rossa (Not a bad rhyme for three such difficult names and…
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 91344
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"When you come to observe faithfully the changes of each humblest plant, you find that each has sooner or later its peculiar autumnal tint, or tints": The Manuscript Edition of The Writings of Henry David Thoreau; In the Original Binding
THOREAU, Henry David.
The Manuscript Edition of The Writings of Henry David Thoreau.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin and Company, 1906.
The manuscript edition of the writings of Henry David Thoreau. With the original manuscript sheet by Thoreau from his journal tipped-in to volume 1. The two page manuscript fragment comprises 58 lines from "Autumnal Tints," in altered form, published in the Atlantic Monthly, October 1862, and collected in Excursions the following year. The fragment concludes with the line containing the title phrase: "When you come to observe faithfully the changes of each humblest plant, you find that each has sooner or later its peculiar autumnal tint, or tints [...]." Octavo, 20 volumes. Bound in the publisher's three-quarter green morocco over…
Price: $18,500.00 Item Number: 97590
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"To the few who love me and whom I love – to those who seek rather than to those who think – to the dreamers and those who put faith in dreams as in the only realities – I offer this book of truths" : Rare first edition of Edgar Allan Poe's Magnum Opus, Eureka, One of only 500 copies
POE, Edgar Allan.
Eureka: A Prose Poem.
New York: George P. Putnam, 1848.
First edition, first issue of Poe's classic work. Duodecimo, original publishers blind stamped black cloth with gilt lettering to the spine. First issue, without the review for Eureka on page 2 of the 16 page catalogue at the end of the book, but reads simply: “Poe. — Eureka, A Prose Poem: Or the Physical and Metaphysical Universe. By Edgar A. Poe, Esq.” In very good condition, with some light rubbing to the extremities, contemporary inscription to the front free endpaper. Housed in a custom clamshell box. An exceptional example of this rare and important text.
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 37022
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Rare First Edition of Leonard Cohen's First Book, One of 400 copies Let Us Compare Mythologies; Signed by Him in the year of publication
COHEN, Leonard.
Let Us Compare Mythologies.
Montreal: McGill Poetry Series by Contact Press, 1956.
First edition of Cohen's first book, which explores philosophy, sexuality, death, a world of violent contrasts that would define his future literary and musical careers. Octavo, original cloth. With five full-page line illustrations by Freda Guttman. Signed by the author in the month of publication on the front free endpaper, “Leonard Cohen May 1956.” Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Uncommon, as reportedly fewer than 400 copies of the first edition were printed (Nadel, 45).
Price: $16,500.00 Item Number: 140463
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First Edition of The Poet In New York; Signed by Legendary Poet and Songwriter Leonard Cohen
LORCA, Federico Garcia [Leonard Cohen].
The Poet In New York and Other Poems.
New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1940.
First edition of Lorca’s masterpiece. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by fellow poet Leonard Cohen on the front free endpaper. Cohen was deeply influenced by the work of Lorca for the duration of his poetic and musical career. "Now, you know of my deep association and confraternity with the poet Federico Garcia Lorca. I could say that when I was a young man, an adolescent, and I hungered for a voice, I studied the English poets and I knew their work well, and I copied their styles, but I could not find a voice. It was only when I read, even…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 110825
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"O come, then, quickly come! We are budding, we are blowing; And the wind that we perfume Sings a tune that's worth the knowing": First Edition of Ralph Waldo Emerson's poems; Inscribed by Him
EMERSON, Ralph Waldo.
Poems.
Boston: James Munroe & Co, 1847.
First edition with four pages of publisher's ads dated January 1, 1847 bound before the title of this collection of poems. Octavo, bound in publisher's boards covered in coated ivory-colored paper, with publisher's label on spine. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication, "Elizabeth Burgess with the best wishes of R.W.E. 1 Jan. 1847." In very good condition with some wear to the binding. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable signed and inscribed by Emerson in the year of publication.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 70005
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Fare First Edition of Dylan Thomas' First Book Eighteen Poems; Lengthily Inscribed by Him to literary editor and close friend Desmond Hawkins
THOMAS, Dylan.
Eighteen Poems.
London: Sunday Referee and the Parton Press, 1936.
First edition, first issue of Thomas' first book, one of 250 copies. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author to Desmond Hawkins, who was Dylan's literary editor and close friend, with a playful (and perhaps drunken) inscription which attempts to conflate their names, maybe in an effort to create a new single persona out of the two of them: "To and from Hawkins Dylan Desmond Thomas Dylan Desmond Dylan Desmond Hawkins Thomas Dylan Desmond." He has also included a more conventional inscription, signed "Dylan Thomas 24th May 1936." Near fine in a very good dust jacket with some…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 111544
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“Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rage at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light": First Edition of Dylan Thomas' In Country Sleep; Signed by Him
THOMAS, Dylan .
In Country Sleep.
New York: New Directions, 1952.
First edition of this collection of poems, including the first book appearance of "Do not go gentle into that good night." Octavo, original cloth. Signed and dated by the author in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, "Dylan Thomas 1952." Fine in a very good dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable signed as Thomas passed away one year after the publication.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 106778
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"To the few who love me and whom I love – to those who seek rather than to those who think – to the dreamers and those who put faith in dreams as in the only realities – I offer this book of truths" : Rare first edition of Edgar Allan Poe's Magnum Opus, Eureka, One of only 500 copies
POE, Edgar Allan.
Eureka: A Prose Poem.
New York: George P. Putnam, 1848.
First edition, first issue of Poe's classic work. Duodecimo, original publishers blind stamped black cloth with gilt lettering to the spine. First issue, without the review for Eureka on page 2 of the 16 page catalogue at the end of the book, but reads simply: “Poe. — Eureka, A Prose Poem: Or the Physical and Metaphysical Universe. By Edgar A. Poe, Esq.” In very good condition, with some light rubbing to the extremities, rebacked. Housed in a custom clamshell box. Rare.
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 140614
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“Do anything, but let it produce joy": RARE SECOND EDITION OF WALT WHITMAN’S LEAVES OF GRASS; ONE OF ONE THOUSAND COPIES
WHITMAN, Walt.
Leaves of Grass.
Brooklyn, New York: Fowler and Wells, 1856.
Rare second edition, one of a 1000 copies of the most important volume in American poetry, with an additional twenty poems not found in the first edition as well as a new section of correspondence and reviews entitled “Leaves-droppings” that begins with the famous letter from Emerson containing the salutation “I greet you at the beginning of a great career.” Small octavo, original green cloth. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Walt Whitman. Bookplate of Barrett Wendell to the inside panel. Barrett was an American academic and a trustee of the Boston Athenaeum, a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and a…
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 50052
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“AMERICA’S SECOND DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE”: RARE "Suppressed Boston Edition" OF WALT WHITMAN’S LEAVES OF GRASS, THE MOST IMPORTANT AND INFLUENTIAL VOLUME OF AMERICAN POETRY
WHITMAN, Walt.
Leaves of Grass.
Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1881-82.
The "suppressed Boston edition" (seventh edition overall) of the most important volume in American poetry, one of 1,010 copies printed. Octavo, original publisher's mustard cloth with gilt titles and tooling to the spine and front panel, tissue-guarded engraved portrait of the author by Hollyer after the daguerreotype by Gabriel Harrison opposite page 29. BAL 21418. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Dr. C H Shivers from the author." The recipient, Dr. C.H. Shivers was a Haddonfield, New Jersey-based physician, member of the New Jersey Medical Society for Camden County and friend and dinner companion of Whitman's (according to The…
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 139829
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First Edition of Federico Garcia Lorca's Romancero Gitano; Signed by Him with a drawing
GARCIA LORCA, Federico.
Romancero Gitano 1924-1927 [Gyspy Ballads].
Buenos Aires: Sur, 1928.
First edition of Garcia Lorca’s classic work. Octavo, bound in three quarters calf over marbled boards. Signed on the title page by Federico Garcia Lorca, who has drawn a face next to his signature. Books signed by Garcia Lorca are exceedingly rare, as he was killed in 1936. In very good condition with a contemporary bookplate of Fernando Ortiz to the pastedown with light rubbing. Ortiz was a Cuban essayist, anthropologist, ethnomusicologist and scholar of Afro-Cuban culture. A very nice example, rare and desirable signed with desirable provenance.
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 53005
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"Who Is Content Only With The Right Word": First Edition of Death of a Naturalist; Inscribed by Seamus Heaney to his Aunt
HEANEY, Seamus.
Death of a Naturalist.
London: Faber and Faber, 1966.
First edition of Heaney's first major published volume. Octavo, original green cloth with titles to the spine in gilt. Association copy, inscribed by the author to his aunt in a contemporary hand, "For Aunt Annie: who is content only with the right word. Love, Seamus." Additionally signed by Heaney in full on the title page. Fine in very good dust jacket with sunning to the pink portion of the spine and some overall wear. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Association copies of this caliber seldom enter the market.
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 3529
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“Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rage at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light": Signed Limited First Edition of Dylan Thomas' In Country Sleep
THOMAS, Dylan .
In Country Sleep.
New York: New Directions, 1952.
Signed limited edition, one of 100 copies of this collection of poems, including the first book appearance of "Do not go gentle into that good night," published the year before his death, Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Dylan Thomas. Fine in a fine slipcase. An exceptional example.
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 109248
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"For Jake, The Beetle, Polar, and Charlie, with nicknames Like these you're going to need all the protection you can get - use this book as a shield": First Edition of Where the Sidewalk Ends, Lengthily Inscribed by Him
SILVERSTEIN, Shel.
Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings.
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1974.
First edition of the author's first collection of children's poetry. Stated first edition on the copyright page. Small quarto, original brown cloth, illustrated. Presentation copy, lengthily inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "For Jake, The Beetle, Polar, and Charlie, with nicknames Like these you're going to need all the protection you can get - use this book as a shield. Love Shel Silverstein." Near fine in a very good dust jacket.
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 140406
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THE LIMITED AUTOGRAPH CENTENARY EDITION OF THE WORKS OF RALPH WALDO EMERSON
EMERSON, Ralph Waldo .
The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Cambridge: Riverside Press, 1903.
Autograph Centenary edition with a double sided manuscript in Emerson’s hand bound into volume one. Octavo, 12 volumes, bound in three quarters morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spines, raised bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. Numerous mounted photogravure illustrations. One of 600 copies. Emerson discovered Pascal in college and was a lifelong admirer of Pascal's wisdom. At 23, he wrote, “It is the leading idea of Pascal’s Religious Meditations to contrast what is grand & pitiful in human nature.” In 1859 he remarked, “Now & then, rarely comes a stout man like Luther, Montaigne, Pascal, Herbert, who utters a thought or feeling…
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 13890
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THE AUTOGRAPH CENTENARY EDITION OF THE WORKS OF RALPH WALDO EMERSON; complete with a double-sided manuscript page entirely in Emerson's hand
EMERSON, Ralph Waldo .
The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Cambridge: Riverside Press, 1903.
The Autograph Centenary edition of the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of 600 numbered copies containing a double sided manuscript in Emerson’s hand bound into volume one. Octavo, 12 volumes, publisher's original three quarter morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, top edge gilt, illustrated with numerous mounted photogravures. One of 600 numbered copies signed by the publisher, this is number 46. The original manuscript reads, "But whilst race works thus immortally to keep its own, it is resisted by other forces. The Arabs of today are the…
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 138934
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"Perhaps the greatest French illustrated book of the first half of the eighteenth century": Rare first edition, first issue of Oeuvres de Moliere
MOLIèRE. [POQUELIN, Jean-Baptiste].
Oeuvres de Moliere. Nouvelle Edition.
Paris: [Pierre Prault], 1734.
First edition, first issue of one of the greatest French illustrated books of the first half of the eighteenth century. First issue with "Comteese" in vol. VI, p. 360, line 12. Quarto, six volumes bound in full calf with gilt titles and ruling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, morocco spine labels lettered in gilt. Illustrated with 33 engraved plates by Laurent Cars after François Boucher, engraved frontispiece portrait of Molière by Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié after Charles-Antoine Coypel, 210 engraved head and tailpieces, and 104 engraved initials by Joullain and Cars after Boucher, Blondel and Oppenord. In near…
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 130224
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First Edition of Frank O'Hara's Meditations In An Emergency; inscribed by Frank O'Hara to his college roommate
O'HARA, Frank.
Meditations In An Emergency.
New York: Grove Press, 1957.
First edition of O'Hara's classic work of poetry. Octavo, original cloth, number 28 of an unknown number cloth-bound copies produced in the first print run. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, "For my darling Hal in Hell's despite - Love, Frank." The recipient, Hal Fondren was O'Hara's roommate at Harvard College. After graduating, O'Hara moved to New York City and shared Fondren's apartment ion East 49th Street before attending graduate school at the University of Michigan. Near fine in a very good slipcase. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional association.
Price: $9,200.00 Item Number: 132649
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First edition of Walt Whitman's Two Rivulets: Including Democratic Vistas, Centennial Songs, and Passage to India; one of only 100 copies signed and dated by Walt Whitman and with an autograph note signed by him tipped in
WHITMAN, Walt.
Two Rivulets: Including Democratic Vistas, Centennial Songs, and Passage to India.
Camden, New Jersey: Author's Edition, 1876.
Scarce first edition, first issue with the blank leaf between 'As a Strong Bird' and 'Memoranda' and single leaf of advertisements for Whitman’s books inserted between the back flyleaves. One of only 100 copies. Octavo, bound in full morocco with gilt titles and elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, triple gilt ruling to the panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentetlles, gilt top stain, marbled endpapers. With the frontispiece sepia photograph of Whitman signed and dated by him, "Walt Whitman 1881." From the library of Richard Hoe Lawrence with an autograph note by Whitman…
Price: $9,200.00 Item Number: 114654
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"And the voice of his devotion filled my soul with strange emotion; for its tones by turns were glad, sweetly solemn, wildly-sad": First Edition of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Poems on Slavery; inscribed by him
LONGFELLOW, Henry Wadsworth.
Poems on Slavery.
Cambridge: John Owen, 1842.
First edition of Longfellow's collection of poems published in support of the United States anti-slavery efforts. Small octavo, bound in full pebbled morocco by Bradstreet's with gilt titles and raised bands to the spine, inner dentelles. Presentation copy, inscribed by Longfellow on the half-title page, "Rev. R. C. Waterston from the Author.” The recipient, Reverend Robert Cassie Waterston, was a noted Unitarian clergyman of Boston, the majority of his library is now housed in the Massachusetts Historical Society. In near fine condition. Bookplate. Housed in a custom clamshell box.
Price: $9,200.00 Item Number: 101568
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Clandestine first Chilean edition of Pablo Neruda's Canto General; Inscribed by him to close friend and publisher Americo Zorilla
NERUDA, Pablo.
Canto General.
Santiago: Imprenta Juárez, 1950.
Clandestine first Chilean edition of Neruda's stunning epic poem, published underground by the Communist party in Chile under a false imprint one month after the true first edition, published in Mexico from a different manuscript. Quarto, bound into contemporary red linen boards with parts of original printed wrappers serving as titles to the front panel and spine. Copyright leaf mounted to front pastedown bearing the false imprint "Imprenta Juárez, Reforma 75, Ciudad de México D.F.", half tone portraits of Neruda tipped in at front and back. Inscribed by Neruda on the title page, "Al camarada Americo, Pablo Neruda." The recipient…
Price: $8,800.00 Item Number: 82604
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First edition, signed limited issue of New Poems 1942: An Anthology of British and American Verse; one of only 26 copies available for sale signed by 31 contributors including Dylan Thomas and W.H. Auden
WILLIAM, Oscar [Editor]; Dylan Thomas; Wallace Stevens; W.H. Auden; Marianne Moore; Robinson Jeffers; Randall Jarrell; Delmore Schwartz; Conrad Aiken; Muriel Rukeyser; Stephen Spender; Robert Penn Warren.
New Poems 1942: An Anthology of British and American Verse.
Mount Vernon, N.Y: Peter Pauper Press, 1942.
First edition, signed limited issue of the second in a series of wartime poetry anthologies selected by Oscar Williams, this being the first to be issued as a signed limited edition. Octavo, original three quarter buckram over marbled boards, top edge gilt. One of 26 lettered copies available for sale and signed by 31 of the 32 contributors (W. R. Rogers is absent as is the case with all copies), this is copy V (of 58 as 32 copies were reserved for the contributors). Signed by Conrad Aiken, Kenneth Allott, W. H. Auden, George Barker, John Peale Bishop, R. P.…
Price: $8,800.00 Item Number: 138329
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"Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it so that the other half may reach you": First Edition of Kahlil Gibran's Sand and Foam; Warmly Inscribed by Him; And a Two Page Autographed Letter Signed
GIBRAN, Kahlil.
Sand and Foam: A Book of Aphorisms.
London: William Heinemann, 1927.
First edition of this powerful collection of aphorisms, poems, and parables from the author of The Prophet. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, warmly inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Marie Luise, With a greeting across the garden, Kahlil.'' Also laid in is a signed two page letter on Gibran's letterhead, completely in his hand. It reads, “Good morning to you, dear Marie Lousie, and many blessings upon you. I have before me now a kindly number of your letters, and I feel quite rich. You see, I went to the country for a while, and while…
Price: $8,800.00 Item Number: 33095
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First Edition of Frank O'Hara's Meditations In An Emergency; Lengthily inscribed by Frank O'Hara
O'HARA, Frank.
Meditations In An Emergency.
New York: Grove Press, 1957.
Number 25 of the rare first edition O'Hara's classic work of poetry, published in an edition of 75 hardbound copies. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "For Mike- Happy Birthday and I hope the Houses and Odes go on and on into 1262- Frank." Near fine in the rare original slipcase. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Exceptionally rare, especially signed.
Price: $8,500.00 Item Number: 115298
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THE LIMITED AUTOGRAPH CENTENARY EDITION OF THE WORKS OF RALPH WALDO EMERSON: FINELY BOUND WITH AN ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT in EMERSON's hand
EMERSON, Ralph Waldo.
The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Autograph Centenary Edition.
Cambridge: Printed at the Riverside Press, 1903.
The Autograph Centenary edition of Emerson's complete works with an autograph manuscript in his hand and with his notations tipped in. One of six hundred copies additionally signed by the publisher, this is number 576. Octavo, 12 volumes bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, illustrated with photogravures including tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of Emerson. Tipped into volume I, the manuscript in Emerson's hand reads in part, "He repeats after Plato the affirmations of real essence. There is not any life in those…
Price: $8,200.00 Item Number: 137099
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"ENOUGH FOR ME IN DREAMS TO SEE AND TOUCH THY GARMENTS' HEM- THY FEET HAVE TROD SO NEAR TO GOD, I MAY NOT FOLLOW THEM": FIRST EDITION OF RUDYARD KIPLING'S MANY INVENTIONS; inscribed by him to his second cousin
KIPLING, Rudyard.
Many Inventions.
London: Macmillan and Co., 1893.
First English edition of this collection of Kipling's poems and tales. Octavo, original cloth decorated in gilt. Association copy, inscribed by Rudyard Kipling on the title page in the year of publication to his second cousin by marriage, "Eliot [sic] Balestier from Rudyard Kipling Xmas. 93." The recipient, Elliot Francis Balestier was the second cousin of Kipling's wife, Caroline Balestier and her brother, Wolcott, with whom Kipling collaborated with for the novel The Naulahka: A Story Of East And West, which he would later name his historic shingle style house in Dummerston Vermont after. In very good condition. A fine…
Price: $7,800.00 Item Number: 123441
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"These are our regulations - there's just one law for the scout, and the first and the last, and the present and the past, and the future and the perfect is 'Look out!'" Scarce separate edition of Rudyard Kipling's A Patrol Song
KIPLING, Rudyard.
A Patrol Song.
New York: Doubleday, Page & Co, 1909.
Scarce separate edition of Kipling's song for the Boy Scouts. Octavo, original wrappers. One of only 20 copies printed by Doubleday for copyright purposes. In near fine condition. Bookplate. Housed in a custom half morocco and chemise case. Scarce.
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 120708
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Rare First Edition of Sylvia Plath's A Winter Ship; One of only 60 Copies
PLATH, Sylvia.
A Winter Ship.
Edinburgh: Tragara Press, 1960.
First edition of Plath's first separately printed poem, one of only 60 copies. Octavo, original marbled wrappers with printed title label in a ruled border pasted to front cover. In fine condition. One of only perhaps sixty copies produced by Alan Anderson, owner of the Tragara Press, this work constituted the first separate printing of Plath's work. Plath herself requested the removal of her name from the title, writing in June of 1960, "We thought we'd like the date, place and press in upright letters, as on the other proof, and my name deleted – as I'll write that on…
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 132110
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"I wake earlier, now that the birds have come and sing in the unfailing trees": First American Edition of Mary Oliver's First Book No Voyage and Other Poems; Signed Twice by Her
OLIVER, Mary.
No Voyage and Other Poems.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965.
First American edition of the poet's scarce first book. Octavo, original cloth. Signed twice by Mary Oliver, once on the half-title page and again on the title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with light shelfwear. Jacket design by Janet Halverson. Author photograph by Molly Malone Cook. An exceptional example.
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 39865
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"All things return, both sphere and mote, and I shall hear my bluebird's note, and dream the dream of Auburn dell": First Edition, first issue of Ralph Waldo Emerson's May-Day and Other Pieces; Signed by him
EMERSON, Ralph Waldo.
May-Day and Other Pieces.
Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.
First edition, first issue of this collection of Emerson's later poems. Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles and botanical emblem to the front panel, top edge gilt. Signed by Emerson on the title page, "R.W. Emerson." In very good condition with rubbing to the crown of the spine and minor chipping to the front free endpaper. Rare and desirable.
Price: $7,200.00 Item Number: 96771