Poetry
Rare Poetry Books & First-Edition Poetry Books for Sale Online
If you’re looking for a particular rare or first-edition poetry book, you’re on the right page. Browse through our entire collection below, use the search or filters to find exactly what you’re looking for than call or email with any questions or order online.
Showing 1–24 of 383 results
-
Browse by Category
- Browse All
- Americana
- Art and Architecture
- Autograph Letters Signed
- Biography and Autobiography
- Children's Books
- Economics and Finance
- Featured Rare Books
- Fine Bindings and Sets
- First Edition
- First Edition>Signed
- Food and Wine
- Framed Autographs and Historical Documents
- Geography
- Gifts
- Gifts - For Her
- Gifts - For Him
- Gifts - Graduation and Celebrations
- Gifts - Holidays
- History, Law, and Politics
- Literature
- Music
- New Arrivals
- Philosophy
- Photography
- Poetry
- Presidents and World Leaders
- Religion
- Science and Natural History
- Science Fiction and Mystery
- Signed
- Signed & Autographed Books
- Sports and Leisure
- Travel and Exploration
- Uncategorized
-
First Edition of Christmas in Plains; Signed by Jimmy Carter
CARTER, Jimmy.
Christmas In Plains.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.
First edition of this Christmas story by the 39th President of the United States. Small octavo, original boards, illustrated by Amy Carter. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Bill Fenton J Carter." Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket painting by Amy Carter.
Price: $175.00 Item Number: 147913
-
First Edition of Tomas Transtromer's Twenty Poems; Lengthily Inscribed by Him and Translator Robert Bly
TRANSTROMER, Tomas; Translated by Robert Bly.
Twenty Poems.
New York: The Seventies Press, 1970.
First edition of the first work in English to be translated by the Nobel Prize-winning poet, one of only 1000 copies. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, lengthily inscribed by both Thomas Transtromer and the translator Robert Bly on the front free endpaper. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Bilingual edition, Swedish and English. Translated by Robert Bly. Uncommon signed and inscribed.
Price: $975.00 Item Number: 147497
-
First Edition of Tremor; Signed by Award-winning poet Adam Zagajewski
ZAGAJEWSKI, Adam.
Tremor: Selected Poems.
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1985.
First edition of the poet's first book to be published in English. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, "To Adrienne- with best wishes, Adam Zagajewski Houseton, May 2004." Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Cathy Saksa. Laid in is a black and white photograph of the author.
Price: $125.00 Item Number: 147466
-
First Edition of Another Beauty; Inscribed by Adam Zagajewski
ZAGAJEWSKI, Adam.
Another Beauty.
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998.
First edition of the author's memoirs. Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, "To Matthew Adam Zagajewski Boston, October 2004." Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Marc J. Cohen. Translated by Clare Cavanagh.
Price: $150.00 Item Number: 147467
-
"Ae fond kiss, and then we sever! Ae farewell alas, for ever!": The large paper issue of The Complete Poems of Robert Burns
BURNS, Robert; Introduction by John Buchan.
The Complete Writings of Robert Burns.
Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1926.
The Large-Paper edition of the complete works of Robert Burns. Royal octavo, ten volumes bound in three quarter contemporary dark blue crushed morocco by the Riverside Press with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, top edge gilt, ribbons bound in, illustrated with tissue-guarded engravings, some in color, tissue-guarded engraved frontispiece portrait of Robert Burns after a painting by Alexander Nasmyth in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh to the first volume. One of seven hundred and fifty copies for the United States of America and fifty copies for Great Britain, this is…
Price: $3,000.00 Item Number: 147505
-
finely bound 19th century printing of Le Rime Di Dante Alighieri Fiorentino with Giovanni Boccaccio's Vita Di Dante
ALIGHIERI, Dante; Giovanni Boccaccio.
Le Rime Di Dante Alighieri Fiorentino Precedute Dalla Vita Di Lui.
Parma: Per Pietro Fiaccadori, 1842.
19th century printing of this collection of poems by Dante Alighieri, preceded by the first formal biography of his life written by Giovanni Boccaccio. Duodecimo, purple half cloth over green marbled boards. In very good condition with very light toning throughout, contemporary ownership signature to the title page.
Price: $100.00 Item Number: 146434
-
"The Sun's not eternal, That's why there's the blues": Allen Ginsberg's White Shroud 1980-1985; Inscribed by Him with a large drawing
GINSBERG, Allen.
White Shroud Poems 1980-1985.
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1987.
First Perennial Library edition of this collection of poems. Octavo, original publisher's wrappers. Association copy, inscribed by the author to his cousin Gene Levy and his wife on title-page, "for Lorraine & Gene Levy from cousin (first) Allen Ginsberg February 4, 1989 Pittsburgh." Additionally inscribed on the opposite with a large hand-drawn illustration of a Bhudda-like figure surrounded by stars, a sun with initials "AH" at the center, and a skull holding a flower at the bottom. In near fine condition.
Price: $400.00 Item Number: 146471
-
"You go your way I'll go your way too": First Edition of Leonard Cohen's Book of Longing
COHEN, Leonard.
Book of Longing.
Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2006.
First Canadian edition and true first of Cohen's provocative book of poetry. Octavo, original boards, illustrated. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
Price: $75.00 Item Number: 147182
-
First Edition of The Illustrated Poems of John Betjeman; Inscribed by British Artist David Gentleman with an Autograph Letter also Signed by Him
BETJEMAN, John; David Gentleman.
The Illustrated Poems of John Betjeman. [WITH] Autograph Letter Signed by David Gentleman.
London: John Murray, 1995.
First edition of this humorous collection of intimate poems, illustrated with charming watercolors by one of England's most familiar artists. Medium octavo, original boards, illustrated throughout. Presentation copy, inscribed by the artist, "For Gill Sandilands with all good wishes from David Gentleman." Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Accompanied by an autograph letter signed by Gentleman to Miss Sandilands, offering her this book. One page on his Gloucester Crescent stationary, the letter reads in full, "22 March 1995, Dear Gill, I am really ashamed of having neglected your kind messages and invitation last year, and of being to inconsiderate.…
Price: $350.00 Item Number: 147100
-
One Hundred & One Ballades; Inscribed by H.S. Mackintosh
MACKINTOSH, H.S.; Winifred Agar; Sidney Allnut; Maurice Baring; Hilaire Belloc; E.C. Bentley; Cecil Chesterton; Geoffrey Howard; Diggory King; Theodore Maynard; J.B. Morton; J.S. Phillimore; T. Michael Pope; C.K. Scott-Moncrieff; J.C. Squire; R. Weatherhead; Louis Wharton.
One Hundred & One Ballades.
London: Cobden-Sanderson, 1931.
First edition, second printing of this collection of narrative poetry, some of which appear for the first time here. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated with engravings by John Nash. Presentation copy, inscribed by H.S. Mackintosh, "To Miss S. Fraser-Luckis from H.S. Mackintosh. September 1937." In very good condition with some toning to the spine and light rubbing to the extremities.
Price: $125.00 Item Number: 147098
-
"I ask you, how much beauty can a person bear? It is heavier than ugliness, even the burden of emptiness is nothing beside it": First Edition of Louise Gluck's The Triumph of Achilles
GLUCK, Louise.
The Triumph of Achilles.
New York: The Ecco Press, 1985.
First edition of the Nobel Prize-winning author's classic work, her most anthologized. Octavo, original cloth. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
Price: $150.00 Item Number: 146423
-
"What's right for you - just listen to The voice that speaks inside": Shel Silverstein's Falling Up; Inscribed Twice by Him with three drawings
SILVERSTEIN, Shel.
Falling Up.
New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996.
Early printing of this classic poetry collection published by Shel Silverstein. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated with drawings by the author throughout. Signed by the author opposite the half-title page, "With love, Shel Silverstein," with a shoe hanging by its laces on the end of the signature, matching the shoe on the title page. Additionally inscribed by him opposite the title page, "Stop ~ and smell the roses ~ S.S," above a drawing of flowers growing from a fallen man's feet. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. A unique example.
Price: $4,800.00 Item Number: 147074
-
"From my mouth to God's ear, I swear it; I want only to be a song": First Edition of Mary Oliver's What Do We Know
OLIVER, Mary.
What Do We Know: Poems and Prose Poems.
Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2002.
First edition of this magnificent poetry collection from the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning poet. Octavo, original half cloth. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
Price: $50.00 Item Number: 147072
-
First edition of Allen Ginsberg's Collected Poems 1947-1980; Inscribed by Him to his Cousin
GINSBERG, Allen.
Collected Poems 1947-1980.
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1988.
First Perennial Library edition of this collection of poems. Octavo, original red wrappers. Association copy, lengthily inscribed by the author to his cousin Gene Levy and his wife on the title page, "for Ed [sic] & Lorraine Levy from Allen Ginsberg February 22, 1989," and the opposite blank, "Shalom with thanks for Under The Bamboo Tree, Memphis Minnie, & your book on J.W. Johnson from Cousin Allen," above a hand-drawn doodle of a sun with initials "AH" in the center and a Star of David with a skull in the middle, holding a flower over crossbones. In very good condition.…
Price: $475.00 Item Number: 146470
-
Finely Bound Example of The Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge
COLERIDGE, Samuel Taylor; Introduction and Notes by T. Ashe.
The Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
London: George Bell and Sons, 1885.
The Aldine edition of Coleridge’s poetical works, including The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Duodecimo, two volumes bound in three quarter calf over gilt boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, all edges marbled, marbled endpapers, illustrated with engraved frontispieces, head-pieces, and initials. In very good condition.
Price: $400.00 Item Number: 146831
-
"Words, if you let them, will do what they want to do and what they have to do": First Edition of Carson Anne's Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse
CARSON, Anne.
Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998.
First edition of “this amazing love story” (The New York Times Book Review). Octavo, original cloth. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Carol Devine Carson.
Price: $375.00 Item Number: 146927
-
First Edition of Mary Oliver's New and Selected Poems: Volume Two
OLIVER, Mary.
New and Selected Poems: Volume Two.
Boston: Beacon Press, 2005.
First edition of this collection of poems by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. Octavo, original boards. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
Price: $75.00 Item Number: 146879
-
First Edition of Mary Oliver's The Truro Bear and Other Adventures
OLIVER, Mary.
The Truro Bear and Other Adventures: Poems and Essays.
Boston: Beacon Press, 2008.
First edition of this collection by the award-winning poet. Octavo, original half cloth. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Bob Kosturko.
Price: $50.00 Item Number: 146880
-
From the Library of Jack Kerouac: First Edition of I DODO A Poem Cycle; Inscribed to Him by Fred Kline
KLINE, Fred; [Jack Kerouac].
I, DODO: A Poem Cycle.
San Francisco: Double-H Press, 1968.
First edition of this charming book of poetry; from the library of 'On the Road' author Jack Kerouac. Sextodecimo, original wrappers. The first printing of 2000 copies. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "to Jack Kerouac, with great admiration. Fred Kline. Nov. 11, 1968 Dos Palos." The recipient, Jack Kerouac, is generally considered the father of the Beat movement, although he actively disliked such labels. His method was heavily influenced by the prolific explosion of jazz in 1960s America and later by his studies in Buddhism that originated with fellow beat and academic Gary Snyder.…
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 146634
-
The Haw Lantern; Signed by Nobel Prize-Winning Poet Seamus Heaney
HEANEY, Seamus.
The Haw Lantern.
New York: The Noonday Press / Farrar Straus Giroux, 1989.
First printing of the Noonday Press edition of the poet’s seventh collection. Octavo, original wrappers. Signed and dated by the author on the front free endpaper, "Seamus Heaney March 1991." In very good condition.
Price: $225.00 Item Number: 146785
-
From the Library of Jack Kerouac: First Edition of Coyote Tantras; Inscribed to Him by Barry Gifford
GIFFORD, Barry; [Jack Kerouac].
Coyote Tantras and Other Poems.
London: Silverthorne Foundation Inc, 1968.
First edition of this compelling book of poetry; from the library of ‘On the Road’ author Jack Kerouac. Octavo, original illustrated wrappers. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, "For Jack Kerouac, Holy Teacher/Barry Gifford." The recipient, Jack Kerouac, is generally considered the father of the Beat movement, although he actively disliked such labels. His method was heavily influenced by the prolific explosion of jazz in 1960s America and later by his studies in Buddhism that originated with fellow beat and academic Gary Snyder. The raucous, exuberant, often wildly funny account of a journey through America and…
Price: $2,500.00 Item Number: 146635
-
First Edition of Mary Oliver's House of Light
OLIVER, Mary .
House of Light.
Boston: Beacon Press, 1990.
First edition of this work by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. Octavo, original cloth. Fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket. Cover design by Dede Cummings. Rare.
Price: $850.00 Item Number: 146866
-
"Hello Sun in my face": First Edition of Mary Oliver's Why I Wake Early
OLIVER, Mary.
Why I Wake Early.
Boston: Beacon Press, 2004.
First edition of this collection by the Pulitzer prize-winning poet. Octavo, original cloth. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Sara Eisenman.
Price: $75.00 Item Number: 146882
