Poetry
Rare Poetry Books & First-Edition Poetry Books for Sale Online
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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
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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
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"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
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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
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"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
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"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
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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
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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
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"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
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"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
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"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
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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
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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
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"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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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"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
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First Edition of Mary Oliver's The River Styx, Ohio and Other Poems
OLIVER, Mary.
The River Styx, Ohio and Other Poems.
New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1972.
First edition of the author's second collection of poems. Octavo, original cloth. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Robin Forbes. First editions are uncommon.
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 146637
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First edition of The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William Butler Yeats; complete and in the original publisher's vellum binding
YEATS, William Butler.
The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William Butler Yeats.
London: Imprinted at the Shakespeare Head Press for Chapman and Hall, 1908.
First collected edition of the works of William Butler Yeats. Octavo, original publisher's half vellum over cloth-covered boards with gilt lettering to the spine and front panels, top edge gilt, ribbons bound in, limited to 1060 copies, photogravure frontispiece portrait in volumes 1, 5 and 7 with tissue guards as issued, titles printed in red and black. In fine condition. A rare and very sharp complete set in the original publisher's binding.
Price: $3,800.00 Item Number: 146956
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First Edition of Mary Oliver's Blue Pastures
OLIVER, Mary.
Blue Pastures.
New York : Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1995.
First edition of this collection by the award-winning poet. Octavo, original half cloth. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Steven Cooley.
Price: $65.00 Item Number: 146804
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First Edition of Stephen Berrien Stanton's The Hidden Happiness; Gifted By the Author to Philemon Tecumseh Sherman
STANTON, Stephen Berrien [William Tecumseh Sherman].
The Hidden Happiness.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1917.
First edition of this philosophical work; gifted by the author to Philemon Tecumseh Sherman. Duodecimo, original navy blue boards, "With the Compliments of the Author" note laid in. P. T. Sherman's bookplate to the front free endpaper beneath his ownership inscription, "P. T. Sherman Uncle Cump's first partner Sherman + Stanton." Friends and family of General William Tecumseh Sherman often referred to him by the nickname “Cump.” In near fine condition.
Price: $375.00 Item Number: 145985
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First Edition of Stephen Berrien Stanton's Soul and Circumstance; Philemon Tecumseh Sherman's Copy
STANTON, Stephen Berrien [William Tecumseh Sherman].
Soul and Circumstance.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910.
First edition of this philosophical work; gifted by the author to Philemon Tecumseh Sherman. Duodecimo, original navy blue boards. P. T. Sherman's bookplate to the front free endpaper beneath his ownership inscription, "P. T. Sherman from Stephen Stanton." In near fine condition with light rubbing to the extremities and crown of the spine.
Price: $475.00 Item Number: 145984
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"Whatever is begotten born and dies. Caught in that sensual music all neglect monuments of unaging intellect": First edition of William Butler Yeats' The Tower; in the rare original dust jacket
YEATS, William Butler [W.B.].
The Tower.
London: Macmillan and Co. Limited, 1928.
First edition of what is generally considered Yeats' single most important volume, one of 2000 copies. Octavo, original publisher's elaborately gilt-decorated pictorial olive green cloth with Thomas Sturge Moore's iconic engraving of Thoor Ballylee. Near fine in the rare original dust jacket which is in very good condition, bookplate to the front pastedown. A very nice example of this important work.
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 146520
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First Edition of Stephen Berrien Stanton's Collected Poems; Gifted By the Author to Philemon Tecumseh Sherman
STANTON, Stephen Berrien [William Tecumseh Sherman].
Collected Poems.
New York: Minton, Balch & Company, 1930.
First edition of this collection of poems; gifted by the author to Philemon Tecumseh Sherman. Duodecimo, original cloth. P. T. Sherman's bookplate to the front free endpaper beneath his ownership inscription, "P. T. Sherman from Stephen Stanton." In near fine condition with light toning to the spine.
Price: $400.00 Item Number: 145986
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First edition of Ambergris: A Selection From the Poems; inscribed by Aleister Crowley to English Zionist Sir Henry Ludwig Mond, 2nd Baron Melchett
CROWLEY, Aleister.
Ambergris: A Selection From the Poems.
London: Elkin Mathews, 1910.
First edition of this scarce collection of Crowley's poetry. Octavo, original publisher's boards lettered in gilt, rebacked, frontispiece portrait. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the rear free endpaper, "Henry Mond from Aleister Crowley." The recipient, Sir Henry Ludwig Mond, 2nd Baron Melchett was an English politician, industrialist and Zionist. He served as Member of Parliament for the Isle of Ely 1923-24 as a Liberal and deputy chairman of Imperial Chemical Industries from 1940 to 1947. Having been brought up in the Church of England, he reverted in the 1930s to his family's original Judaism and became a champion…
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 146395
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S. H. M. Byer's The March to the Sea; Inscribed by the author to Philemon Tecumseh Sherman
BYERS, S. H. M.
The March to the Sea: A Poem.
Boston: Arena Publishing Company, 1896.
Early edition of this historically significant poem and song; from the library of Philemon Tecumseh Sherman. Octavo, original green cloth, botanical endpapers. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front flyleaf, "To P.T. Sherman; the son of the general who made the great march: with many good wishes from - the author - S. H. M. Byers." Additionally signed by Sherman on the front pastedown above his bookplate. The recipient, Philemon Tecumseh Sherman, the son of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, transferred his library and books inherited from his father to his niece, Eleanor Sherman Fitch, before he…
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 146574
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Giovanni Boccaccio's Il Filostrato, Poema
BOCCACCIO, Giovanni.
Il Filostrato, Poema.
Paris: Presso Franc. Ambr. Didot Il Miaggiore, 1789.
Eighteenth century edition of this marvelous narrative poem. Octavo, bound in three quarter contemporary brown calf over blue marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, marbled endpapers, original silk ribbon laid in. In good condition with rubbing to the extremities, spine, front and rear panels, some loss to the calf binding and very light toning throughout.
Price: $975.00 Item Number: 146404
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"Love? First give justice! There's nothing above! And then you may love!": In This Our World; Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Copy
GILMAN, Charlotte Perkins [Stetson].
In This Our World.
Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1899.
Second edition of Gilman's first collection of poetry, coupled with almost eighty previously uncollected pieces. Duodecimo, enclosed in a handsewn black silk cover, tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of Gilman. Inscribed by Gilman on the front free endpaper, "Charlotte Perkins Stetson Her copy!" In good condition with detached binding, some pages in the front and rear loose, closed tears to the hinges of the silk cover, gift inscription in the year of publication on the front free endpaper above Gilman's inscription, "Presented by M. Maynard for Xmas 1899," some poems dated in pencil, loss to the frontispiece tissue-guard. Accompanied by an autograph…
Price: $2,500.00 Item Number: 146575
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Limited First Edition of Charles Muscatine's The Book of Geoffrey Chaucer
MUSCATINE, Charles; [Geoffrey Chaucer].
The Book of Geoffrey Chaucer: An Account of the Publication of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Works From the Fifteenth Century to Modern Times.
San Francisco: The Book Club of California, 1963.
Limited first edition of this history of Chaucer's works with examples of his poetry and illustrations from his publications. Folio, original red cloth with gilt titles to the spine and knight design to the front panel, frontispiece of a page from the Ellesmere manuscript showing the squire, illustrated with facsimile woodcuts, engraved headpieces and initials, pictorial title pages, and an original leaf from the 1561 edition of Chaucer's 'Works' tipped in to page 24. One of only four hundred and fifty examples. In fine condition, ownership tag tipped in to the front pastedown.
Price: $200.00 Item Number: 146547
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First Edition of Geoffrey Chaucer's Romaunt of the Rose Troilus and Creseide and the Minor Poems
CHAUCER, Geoffrey.
Chaucer’s Romaunt of the Rose Troilus and Creseide and the Minor Poems.
London : William Pickering, 1846.
First edition of this exemplary collection of poems. Octavo, three volumes, bound in full contemporary tan calf with blue and black morocco labels stamped in gilt titles and ruling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled. In near fine condition, bookplate of Lady Davy, wife of British chemist and inventor Sir Humphry Davy, to the front pastedown of each volume.
Price: $475.00 Item Number: 146339
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First Edition of Stephen Berrien Stanton's The Essential Life; From the Library of Philemon Tecumseh Sherman
STANTON, Stephen Berrien [William Tecumseh Sherman].
The Essential Life.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1908.
First edition of this poetical guide to a fulfilling life; from the library of Philemon Tecumseh Sherman. Duodecimo, original navy blue cloth. P.T. Sherman's bookplate to the front free endpaper. In very good condition with some rubbing to the spine, front and rear panels.
Price: $200.00 Item Number: 145983
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First Edition of The Fourth in the Furnace; Gifted to Philemon Tecumseh Sherman
STANTON, Stephen B. [William T. Sherman].
The Fourth in the Furnace.
New York : Minton, Balch & Company, 1927.
First edition of this poetical book of philosophy; gifted by the author to Philemon Tecumseh Sherman. Duodecimo, original black cloth. P. T. Sherman's bookplate to the front pastedown. Ownership inscription to the front free endpaper, "P. T. Sherman from Stephen Stanton Uncle Cump's first partner." Friends and family of General William Tecumseh Sherman often referred to him by the nickname "Cump." In very good condition with some rubbing to the spine, front and rear panels.
Price: $475.00 Item Number: 145982
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First Edition of Ceremony And Other Poems; Inscribed by Richard Wilbur and also laid in a sonnet broadside from Charlee and Richard Wilbur.
WILBUR, Richard.
Ceremony And Other Poems.
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1950.
First edition of this collection of poems by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, warmly inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "For Jane and motherhood Aff'y inscribed Dick Wilbur Cambridge May 51." Also laid in is a sonnet broadside from Charlee and Richard Wilbur. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
Price: $200.00 Item Number: 146260
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First signed Limited Editions Club edition of the Complete Poems of Robert Frost; one of 1500 copies signed by him, illustrator Thomas A. Nason, and printer Bruce Rogers
FROST, Robert.
The Complete Poems of Robert Frost. With a Preface by the Author, an Appreciation by Louis Untermeyer, and Wood-Engravings by Thomas A. Nason.
New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1950.
First signed Limited Editions Club edition of the Complete Poems of Robert Frost. Quarto, two volumes, original cloth with gilt titles to the spines, illustrated with wood-engravings by Thomas A. Nason. One of 1500 copies printed for the members of The Limited Editions Club and signed by Robert Frost, Thomas A. Nason, and Bruce Rogers on the limitation page, this is number 1103. Preface by Robert Frost. Appreciation by Louis Untermeyer. In fine condition.
Price: $1,250.00 Item Number: 146506