Poetry
Rare Poetry Books & First-Edition Poetry Books for Sale Online
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"Thus easily can Earth digest A cinder of sidereal fire, And make her translunary guest The native of the English shire": First edition, presentation copy of The Great Divorce; inscribed by C.S. Lewis with a pre-publication appearance of 'The Meteorite'
LEWIS, C.S.
The Great Divorce.
London: Geoffrey Bles: The Centenary Press, 1945.
First edition of the author's allegorical tale about a bus ride from Hell to Heaven. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper with a pre-publication appearance of his 5-stanza autograph poem, The Meteorite, "The Meteorite Among the hills the meteorite Lies huge; and moss has overgrown, And wind and rain with fingers light Made soft the contours of the stone. Thus easily can Earth digest A cinder of sidereal fire, And make her translunary guest The native of the English shire. Nor is it strange these wanderers Find in her lap their fitting…
Price: $40,000.00 Item Number: 143245
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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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"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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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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"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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“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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"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 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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“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary": Rare First Separate Edition of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven
POE, Edgar Allan.
The Raven.
New York: W. Jennings Demorest, c. 1869-1870.
The first separate American edition of Poe's most famous poem, and likely the first separate edition overall, preceding the 1869 Glasgow edition (BAL 16216). Small octavo, original cloth, blue endpapers. Octavo, original colored pictorial wrappers printed in blue and gold. In very good condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Only four copies of this separate Demorest edition have been located in OCLC, at the Huntington, Yale University, Brown University, Emory University, all with their bindings unspecified. Though The Raven is here published separately, another issue has been noted at both the University of Virginia and the Free Library Company…
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 144195
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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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"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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"Alas! the love of women! it is known To be a lovely and a fearful thing": Rare complete first edition set of Lord Byron's Don Juan; from the library of Erica Jong
BYRON, George Gordon Noel. [Lord Byron].
Don Juan.
London: Thomas Davison [i.e., John Murray], 1819-1821 (Cantos I-V, Volumes I-II)/John Hunt, 1823-24 (Cantos VI-XVI, Volumes III-VI).
Scarce complete first edition set of Byron's great work which was widely criticized as immoral upon publication and is now considered one of the greatest poems of the Romantics; from the library of American writer Erica Jong. Volume one was produced in quarto format and the subsequent 5 volumes in octavo (Davison abandoned the quarto format after disappointing sales of the first volume), six volumes uniformly bound in full morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, double gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. With an autograph letter signed…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 142573
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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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"but like the bard who freely sings in strictest bonds of rhyme and rule and finds in them not bonds but wings": The Problem of Pain; signed and inscribed by C.S. Lewis with a quotation from Coventry Patmore's poem The Angel in the House
LEWIS, C.S.
The Problem of Pain.
London: The Centenary Pres, 1941.
Early printing of Lewis's classic discussion of the nature of good and evil; inscribed by him with a quotation from Coventry Patmore's poem The Angel in the House which had a profound influence on the development of Lewis's Christian beliefs. Octavo, original publisher's cloth. Signed by C.S. Lewis with a quotation from Coventry Patmore's poem The Angel in the House, "They live by law, not like the fool, But like the bard who freely sings in strictest bonds of rhyme and rule and finds in them not bonds but wings - Patmore C.S. Lewis April 1944." First published in 1854,…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 143183
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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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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: $13,500.00 Item Number: 140463
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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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"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 on the front free endpaper, "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 made by the Harcourt Bindery. Association copies of this caliber seldom enter the…
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 3529
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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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“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 made by the Harcourt Bindery. Rare and desirable signed as Thomas passed away one year after the publication.
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 106778
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“A SCARCE AND ALMOST UNKNOWN ISSUE…WHITMAN HAD THESE MADE FOR A FEW FRIENDS”: 1882 AUTHOR’S EDITION OF LEAVES OF GRASS; SIGNED BY WALT WHITMAN
WHITMAN, Walt.
Leaves of Grass.
Camden, New Jersey: Author's Edition [Walt Whitman], 1882.
The Author's edition of the most important and influential volume of poetry written in America; one of probably fewer than 100 copies produced with the inclusion of the "sexual odes" at Whitman's insistence. Octavo, original publisher's cloth, illustrated with two full-page engraved portraits of Whitman at different ages. Boldly signed by Walt Whitman on the title page.
Price: $11,000.00 Item Number: 143291
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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: $9,800.00 Item Number: 109248
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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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"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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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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"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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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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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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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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“Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you”: Signed Limited First Edition of Kahlil Gibran's Sand and Foam
GIBRAN, Kahlil.
Sand and Foam: A Book of Aphorisms.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927.
Signed limited edition of the author's classic work. Octavo, original half cloth over marbled boards, number 33 of 95 copies, signed by Kahlil Gibran. Illustrated with seven drawings by the author. In near fine condition.
Price: $7,800.00 Item Number: 131582
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"Jellicle Cats come out tonight, Jellicle cats come one come all: the jellicle moon is shining bright- jellicles come to the jellicle ball": Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats; Inscribed by T.S. Eliot
ELIOT, T.S.
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.
London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1960.
Later printing of Eliot's beloved collection of whimsical feline poems which served as the basis for Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 megamusical phenomenon Cats. Octavo, original yellow pictorial cloth, illustrated by T. S. Eliot. Association copy, inscribed by the author to portrait painter Sir Gerald Kelly on the front free endpaper, "For Gerald Kelly with the warm regards & admiration of the author of these verses and the illustrator, T.S. Eliot (O.P.)" Eliot and the recipient, Gerard Kelly, struck up a close friendship back in the early 1920s, and in 1960 Kelly was commissioned to paint a portrait of Eliot, which…
Price: $7,800.00 Item Number: 145467
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Rare First Edition of Sylvia Plath's The Colossus and Other Poems
PLATH, Sylvia.
The Colossus and Other Poems.
London: Heinemann, 1960.
First edition of the first complete volume of poetry to be published by Plath and the only volume published in her lifetime. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco slipcase. An exceptional example.
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 142976
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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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"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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"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
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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 contemporary morocco over cloth, elaborately gilt-decorated spines, raised bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. Numerous mounted photogravure illustrations. One of 600 copies. In near fine condition.
Price: $7,000.00 Item Number: 104898
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First edition of Poems by Emily Dickinson: Second Series
DICKINSON, Emily. Edited by T.W. Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd.
Poems by Emily Dickinson: Second Series.
Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1891.
First edition of Emily Dickinson's second book of poetry. BAL 4656. Octavo, original publisher's gray and green cloth decoratively stamped in gilt, all edges gilt, facsimile manuscript leaves at front, tissue guarded title page. In very good condition. A nice example.
Price: $6,800.00 Item Number: 142680
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"Like a bird on a wire like a drunk on a midnight choir I have tried in my way to be free": First Edition of Leonard Cohen's Death of a Lady's Man; Lengthily inscribed by Him
COHEN, Leonard.
Death of a Lady’s Man.
Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1978.
First Canadian edition (and true first), first state with "Lie down." on page 94. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author, "For Michael, Like a bird on a wire like a drunk on a midnight choir I have tried in my way to be free Leonard 29 Sept 1980." Fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket. A unique example.
Price: $6,500.00 Item Number: 128929
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First Edition of Mary Oliver's The Night Traveler; Signed by Twice by Her
OLIVER, Mary.
The Night Traveler.
A Bits Chapbook, 1978.
First edition of this early collection by Mary Oliver. Octavo, original wrappers. Boldly signed twice by Mary Oliver, once on the front free endpaper and on the title page. In fine condition. Rare.
Price: $6,500.00 Item Number: 133671
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First edition of The Map of Love: Verse and Prose; inscribed by Dylan Thomas
THOMAS, Dylan.
The Map of Love: Verse and Prose.
London: J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd, 1939.
First edition, first issue of Thomas's third book with “Dent” blind-stamped on spine. Octavo, original purple cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel, with the frontispiece portrait of Thomas after the painting by Augustus John. Presenation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Leo & John... From Dylan Thomas Oxford 1941." In very good condition.
Price: $6,500.00 Item Number: 139597
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"I am only waiting for love to give myself up at last into his hands": Gitanjali (Song Offerings); Signed by Rabindranath Tagore
TAGORE, Rabindranath.
Gitanjali [Song Offerings].
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1916.
First Bolpur edition of this collection of prose translated by Tagore from the original Bengali, largely for which he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel, engraved frontispiece portrait of Tagore. Boldly signed by Rabindranath Tagore on the half-title page. Introduction by W.B. Yeats. In near fine condition. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 144306
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Rare First Edition of Leonard Cohen's First Book, One of 400 copies Let Us Compare Mythologies
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. An excellent example of this rare first book, which reportedly, fewer than 400 copies of the first edition were printed (Nadel, 45). In near fine condition, with the rear jacket flap laid in.
Price: $5,500.00 Item Number: 138294
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First edition of Alfred Lord Tennyson's The Cup and the Falcon; inscribed by him and with seven lines of verse in Tennyson's hand within the text
TENNYSON, Lord Alfred.
The Cup and The Falcon.
London: Macmillan and Co, 1884.
First edition of this collection of two Tennyson plays. Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles to the spine. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “Frederick & Jane Locker from Tennyson.” Tennyson has also inscribed seven lines of verse from the original manuscript of The Cup on pages 80 and 81, inserted in the concluding speech of Synorix, "Nay, rather than to clip the flowery robe of Hymen we should add some golden fringe of gorgeousness beyond old use to make the day memorial, when Synorix, first King, Comma, first Queen o' the snow here the richest…
Price: $5,500.00 Item Number: 100620
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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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"I AM FOREVER walking upon these shores, Betwixt the sand and the foam, The high tide will erase my foot-prints, And the wind will blow away the foam": Signed Limited First Edition of Kahlil Gibran's Sand and Foam
GIBRAN, Kahlil.
Sand and Foam: A Book of Aphorisms.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927.
Signed limited edition of the author's classic work. Number 75 of 95 copies, signed by Kahlil Gibran. Illustrated with seven drawings by the author. In near fine condition, two small names to the front free endpaper. Housed in a custom made slipcase. A very sharp example.
Price: $4,800.00 Item Number: 34068
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Rare First Edition of Zemnoi Prostor [Earthly Space]; Inscribed by Nobel Prize-Winning Author Boris Pasternak
PASTERNAK, Boris.
Zemnoi Prostor. [Earthly Space].
Moscow: Sovietskiy Pistatel, 1945.
Rare first edition paperback of this collection of poems. Duodecimo, original wrappers with embossed titles to the front panel. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front pastedown, "To the deeply respected Nikolai Sergeyevich Bartenev, for a good memory B. Pasternak May 10, 1946." The recipient, Bartenev, is recorded as serving in the Russian Army during World War I, as the Commander of a battery on Moonsund, or the Western Estonian archipelago, in the Vainameri Sea off the coast of Estonia. His relationship with Pasternak is not exactly known, though he may have been related to the famous Russian…
Price: $4,800.00 Item Number: 145453
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“Love! Love until the night collapses!": First Edition in English of The Heights of Macchu Picchu; Signed by Pablo Neruda
NERUDA, Pablo. Translated by Nathaniel Tarn. Preface by Robert Pring-Mill..
The Heights of Macchu Picchu.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1966.
First edition in English of Neruda's masterpiece. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Pablo Neruda on the front free endpaper. Translated by Nathaniel Tarn. Preface by Robert Pring-Mill. Fine in a near fine dust price-clipped jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box by the Harcourt Bindery. A very sharp example, rare and desirable signed.
Price: $4,500.00 Item Number: 146102
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“If you are a dreamer come in": Where the Sidewalk Ends; Signed by Shel Silverstein
SILVERSTEIN, Shel.
Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings.
New York: Harper & Row, 1974.
First edition, early printing of the author's first collection of children's poetry. Small quarto, original brown cloth, illustrated. Boldly signed by the author on the front free endpaper, "With Love Shel Silverstein." Near fine in a very good dust jacket.
Price: $4,200.00 Item Number: 120856
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"This One in me knows the universe of the many": Signed by Nobel Prize-Winning Author Rabindranath Tagore
TAGORE, Rabindranath.
Creative Unity.
London: MacMillan & Company , 1925.
First edition, later printing. Octavo, original cloth. Signed and dated by the author on the front free endpaper, "Rabindranath Tagore Feb. 26, 1932." In very good condition with some wear to the extremities and to the side front panel. Books signed by Tagore are rare.
Price: $4,200.00 Item Number: 22096
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First Edition of Mary Oliver's Twelve Poems; Inscribed by Her in the Year of Publication
OLIVER, Mary.
Twelve Moons.
Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1979.
First edition of Mary Oliver's fourth book. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication, "June 22, 1979 Love to Ray and Nicky from Mary. Provincetown." The recipients were close friends of the author in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Char Lappan. Photograph by Molly Malone Cook. Rare and desirable signed and inscribed.
Price: $4,000.00 Item Number: 85561
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"And if I should live to be the The Last Leaf upon the tree in the Spring, Let them smile as I do now At the old forsaken bough Where I cling": First edition of Oliver Wendell Holmes' The Last Leaf; inscribed by him to Ulysses S. Grant's daughter Nellie Grant
HOLMES, Oliver Wendell.
The Last Leaf. Poem. By Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Cambridge: Houghton Mifflin & Co. The Riverside Press, 1886.
First edition of Holmes' classic poem. Folio, original publisher's half vellum with gilt titles and tooling to the spine and panels, top edge gilt, illustrated by George Wharton Edwards and F. Hopkinson Smith. Presentation copy inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper to Ulysses S. Grant's daughter Nellie Grant, "Oliver Wendell Holmes for Miss Nellie Grant" and additionally signed and inscribed by him on the second blank with a stanza from The Last Leaf, "And if I should live to be the The Last Leaf upon the tree in the Spring, Let them smile as I do now…
Price: $4,000.00 Item Number: 138225
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"I am only waiting for love to give myself up at last into his hands": First edition of Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali (Song Offerings); One of only 250 copies sold
TAGORE, Rabindranath.
Gitanjali [Song Offerings].
London: Printed at The Chiswick Press for The India Society, 1912.
First edition of this collection of prose translated by Tagore from the original Bengali, largely for which he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel, engraved frontispiece portrait of Tagore with tissue guard present. One of 750 copies printed for the India Society only 250 of which were available for sale. Introduction by W.B. Yeats. In very good condition. Bookplate and stamps for the Northbook Society (a British advocacy society and reading room for Indian literature, defunct in the 1960s). Rare and desirable.
Price: $4,000.00 Item Number: 130449