Poetry
Alastor; or, The Spirit of Solitude: and other Poems
London: Reeves and Turner, 1885. Hardcover. 1 of 404 copies, this being one of 350 copies on toned paper. The book is a facsimile of the original edition of Alastor, first published in 1816. It was done for the Shelley Society. In green paper boards with title, author, and publisher in black on front cover, Covers and spine are chipped, bumped and worn but still nice. Interior pages are very good except for occasional small tear along fore-edge. 8 page prefatory note plus six page preface plus 101 pages. POE/101812. Very Good. More
News of the phoenix and other poems
Toronto and New York: The Ryerson Press / Coward-McCann, Inc., 1943. Hardcover. First edition. Author's first published collection of verse. Bound in red paper covered boards with black title to spine and front cover. Evidence of ink erasure on the front free endpaper, otherwise fine. In red dust jacket titled in black on the spine and front panel. The jacket is lightly rubbed and the spine is sunned. 42 pages. POE/101416. Near Fine / Very Good. More
Poetry and Song
Columbus, OH: F.J. Heer Printing Company, 1946. Hardcover. Inscribed and signed by the author "To a sincere admirer of my work - Charles F. Fischer. Sincerely, Katherine Neal Smith 1065 Neil Ave, Columbus Ohio. 1947." Red cloth boards with gilt title to spine and front cover. Darkening to gilt. Minor wear to edges of boards. Light browning to margins, else clean. "It's my belief, this world of ours / Will never be all wrong / As long as ... somewhere in it ... / There's a poem and a song" (Introductory poem). A sweet collection of poems on themes of happiness, love, age, memory, beauty, dreams, friendship, nature and more by this all but forgotten poet. 80 pages. POE/032818. Very Good. More
W. D. Snodgrass in conversation with Philip Hoy
[London]: Between the Lines, [c1998]. Paperback. First edition. Printed in interview format with questions and answers. Fine in grey glossy wrappers with black title to spine and front cover. Slight fading to spine panel. Clean and bright. 80 pages. POE/102016. Fine. More
The Chase, a Poem to which is added Hobbinol or the Rural Games
Birmingham: Robert Martin, 1767. This story in verse was originally published in 1735 and reprinted many times. This was poet William Somerville's (1675-1742) most successful work. Bound in contemporary brown leather with stains, chipping, and rubbing. Front board is partially detached. Spine with five compartments and red title label. Pastedowns and free end papers show offsetting from the leather turn-ins. Light foxing but interior pages are in very good condition. Measures 6 x 9.5 inches. 199 pages. POET/122820. More
Twenty-five years of it
Perros-Guirec [privately printed], 1967. Hardcover. First edition. Scarce in hardcover. Ahearn Author Price Guide for Spackman indicates that six copies were bound in cloth. Bound in tan cloth boards with white title label on the front cover. Lacking title-leaf and following leaf noting where some of the poems had previously been published. The rest of the text is complete. Pastedowns, front endpaper, and gutter of the following two pages with red stains, otherwise fine. 31 pages. POE/110216. Very Good. More
The World in Your Hand
Williamsburg: College of William and Mary, 1943. Paperback. Very good in green side stapled paper wrappers with black title to white title label on front wrapper. Minor edgewear and soiling to wrappers. Business card for John Edwin Pomfret, former president of The College of William and Mary, laid in. Small spot of browning to front free end page as a result of a paper clip that was once there. Else is clean and bright. Poetry. POE1/2212. Very Good. More
Selected Poems
London: Faber and Faber, 1940. Paperback. Proof copy. Fine in yellow paper wrappers with black title to spine and front cover. Small spot of soiling to front cover and first page. 76 pages. Housed in white envelope. POE/110316. Fine. More
The Faerie Queene. A Poem in Six Books with the Fragment Mutabilitie. 6 volumes
London: Printed at the Chiswick Press for George Allen, 1897. Hardcover. One of 1000 sets on paper (there were an additional 28 on vellum). A magnificent edition of The Faerie Queene with Crane's glorious illustrations. Walter Crane (1845-1915) was renowned as an illustrator, artist, decorator, and designer during his career. This was Crane’s most elaborate and extensive commission as a book illustrator. It was inspired by the revival of the private press, particularly the Kelmscott Press, as well as by the transition from Art Nouveau to Arts and Crafts, and by the importance of the illustrator in book production. Bound in white cloth, with gilt spine lettering plus red titling to front cover along with a large Art Nouveau design in gilt. This was originally issued in 19 parts, and all of the original salmon colored pictorial front wrappers are bound in. There are 88 mostly full page (one double page) black on white and white on black illustrations and 132 head or tail pieces, all from woodcut designs by Crane. The boards show very light wear and spines are slightly darker than covers. The texts are very tight throughout. Endpapers and pastedowns have varying degrees of foxing. Pages with some light aging to the margins and darkening to edges. First three pages of Volume I have brown splatters to bottom margins. Despite flaws still a beautiful set in very good condition.1546 pages. PRI/ 063022. Very Good. More
Penny Whistles and Wild Plums
Charlotte, Santa Barbara: McNally and Loftin, (1962). Hardcover. INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR. Very good in pale green and white paper covered boards with purple title to front board and grey title to spine. Spine somewhat faded, and some slight browning to the top edges. Inscription to front free end page. Else is clean and bright. 66 pages. Poetry. POE4/12050. Near Fine. More
Scimitar and Song. Volume XXX, Number 4, October-November, 1968
Edgewater, MD: Jean Sterling, 1968. Paperback. INSCRIBED BY THE EDITOR AND PUBLISHER ON THE FRONT WRAPPER. White side stapled paper wrappers with black title to front wrapper. Minor edgewear and soiling to exterior. Unpaginated. Poetry. POET/062915. Very Good. More
Scimitar and Song. Volume XXXI, Number 3, June-July, 1969
Edgewater, MD: Jean Sterling, 1969. Paperback. Blue side stapled paper wrappers with black title to front wrapper. Minor edgewear and soiling to exterior. 25 pages. Poetry. POET/062915. Very Good. More
Scimitar and Song. Volume XXXI, Number 5, October-November, 1969
Edgewater, MD: Jean Sterling, 1969. Paperback. INSCRIBED BY THE EDITOR AND PUBLISHER ON THE FRONT WRAPPER. Pink side stapled paper wrappers with black title to front wrapper. Minor edgewear and soiling to exterior. 25 pages. Poetry. POET/062915. Very Good. More
Scimitar and Song. Volume XXXIII, Number 2, March-April-May, 1971
Edgewater, MD: Jean Sterling, 1971. Paperback. Yellow side stapled paper wrappers with black title to front wrapper. Minor edgewear and soiling to exterior. 29 pages. Poetry. POET/062915. Very Good. More
The Lives of the Poems: Twelve Drawings on Canvas by Mark Strand
East Hampton, NY: Glenn Horowitz, Bookseller, 2005. Softcover. One of 50 signed copies out of an edition of 300. Signed by noted poets Mark Strand and Jorie Graham on the title page. In her essay titled "The Art of Revising," Graham describes Strand's twelve canvases as being made almost entirely of words, handwritten in a mildly feverish black cursive, which compose discrete block-like units....The " finished" poem occurs somewhere on the right side of the canvas - where the eye accustomed to reading left to right would normally land. An oblong volume in gray Hahnemüle Burga paper wrappers with black titling to front. Slight crease on upper left corner and minor brown spot on rear cover. Interior pages are pristine. Printed on Mohawk 50/10 paper with Herman Zapf's Optima Nova type. Housed in black paper covered slipcase. Design and photography by Jerry Kelly. In near fine condition. Measures 9.5 x 12.5 inches. Partially unpaginated [25 pages]. PRI/112523. Near Fine. More
Poems, from the Portuguese of Luis de Camoens: with Remarks on his life and writings, notes, &c. &c.
Baltimore: Kid and Thomas, 1808. Hardcover. Good in full leather boards. Boards are present but detached. Textblock is mostly disbound with a few spots of soiling to last few pages and a few spots of foxing throughout. Offsetting and chipping to endpages. Signed by previous owner. A good reading copy. 129 pages plus 1 page of advertisements. POE/121912. Good. More
Arrow of Anguish. New Poems.
Dublin: New Island Books, 1995. Paperback. SIGNED BY AUTHOR. 1 of 400 copies. Includes 16 poems. Irish author Henry Francis Montgomery Stuart (1902 - 2000) was awarded one of the highest accolades in Ireland before his death; however, he was criticized for the time he spent in Nazi Germany."Today Francis Stuart remains a shamefully neglected major figure in Irish writing. These poems speak honestly out of that loneliness and isolation with the same clarity of insight and unconquerable spirit which has characterized his life's work. Arrow of Anguish is a testament to survival by a voice that refuses to be silenced" (rear cover). White side-stapled paper wrappers with black title and illustration to front panel. Clean, bright interior with tight binding. 22 pages. POE/011608. Fine. More
Five blind men: poems by Dan Gerber, Jim Harrison, George Quasha, J.D. Reed, Charlie Simic
Fremont, Michigan: The Sumac Press, 1969. Hardcover. First edition. Number 45 of 100 numbered copies. There were also 26 lettered copies and a trade edition. This copy is signed by Dan Gerber on the half-title. Bound in grey cloth boards with gilt title to spine and front cover. Lower corners bumped, otherwise near fine, without dust jacket, as issued. Slight roll to spine. 61 pages. PRI/102516. Near Fine. More
Studies in Song (Third Impression).
London: Chatto and Windus, 1907. Hardcover. 8vo. Very good in dark green cloth covered boards with gilt title to spine. Browning to first and last few pages. Else is clean and bright. 212 pages + ads. Poetry. POE6/2182. Very Good. More
Lars: A Pastoral of Norway (1st Edition).
Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1873. Hardcover. FIRST EDITION. 8vo. Very good in purple cloth covered boards with gilt title to front board and to spine. Edges of boards and spine faded to brown. Interior bright and clean; tightly bound. Dedicated to John Greenleaf Whittier. 144 pages. Poetry. POE/4283. Very Good. More
Demeter and Other Poems.
London and New York: MacMillan and Co., 1889. Hardcover. VG- 8vo. Green cloth covered boards with gilt title to spine. Wear to exterior hinges, rubbing to boards and bumping to spine ends and to corners. Minor chipping and one small closed tear to cloth at spine ends. Previous owner's name to front free end page. Interior hinges starting. Light browning to end pages and edges. 175 pages. Poetry. POE/3033. Very Good -. More
Poems of the Day and Year
London and Chicago: John Lane and the Bodley Head and Stone and Kimball, 1895. Patten Wilson. Hardcover. First Edition, Private Issue. Presentation Copy. This is the very scarce private version of Frederick Tennyson's last book. With a handwritten limitation notice on the half-title "Twenty five vellum bound copies of the first edition have been issued for private circulation, This is No. 16." It is inscribed: "To the Revd. W.B. Macleod With Capt. J. Tennyson's & the Authors Compliments Jersey Jan 1896." The recipient was the author of Frederick Tennyson: His Life and Work, published in 1896. Frederick Tennyson (1807-1898) was a poet and the older brother of Alfred Tennyson. Although a gifted poet, he was overshadowed by his brother throughout his life. Captain Julius Tennyson was the author's only son, and the book is dedicated to him and his sister, Sophia, whom Frederick called the companions of his old age. In original vellum with gilt title and author to spine, and gilt florettes and initial "F" to front cover. The spine is darkened and the covers are soiled and bumped but still nice. In very good condition with darkening to page edges. Frontispiece photograph of Tennyson and title page design by illustrator Patten Wilson. A lovely book with a charming association. 163 pages plus tipped-in errata sheet and 16 pages of publisher ads. POE/061313. Very Good. More
NY Dansk Poesi/New Danish Poetry
Bennington, VT: The Bird Press, 2019. Number 2 of 30 copies, signed and numbered by Thorsten Dennerline. Founded in 1997 by Thorsten Dennerline, The Bird Press is an artist-run publishing project that has focused on hand printed artists’ books. All projects utilize some inherent aspect of the book and often take the form of open-ended collaborations with writers. Each project is a response to the last, both in form and content, in order for the work to continually to evolve. Poetry, broadly defined, is a major inspiration for most of the work. They produce editions of between 15-40 copies, utilizing various print media including: flatbed offset lithography, stone lithography, etching, letterpress, wood blocks, and digital pigment printing. The Bird Press books are represented in many library collections, including The New York Public Library, Stanford University, Smith College, Yale University, The Library of Congress, The Getty Research Foundation, and The National Gallery. This book contains visual collaboration by Thorsten Dennerline working with six poets, each on a 4 page section. Each section has a stunning visual inventiveness that complements the poet's words and meaning. Most of the poems include its English translation. Susanne Jorn, who selected the poets included, writes in her introduction: " I have chosen six distinctive Danish poetic voices for an art project in which words and images encounter one another in widely different dialogues. The six poets' diverging views of the world represent new contemporary Danish poetry as a whole." In the afterword, Anne-Marie Mai says: "What Dennerline and the poets have created here is a new artwork, an object in the world, an artist book, where texts and visual elements interact, challenging the book medium." This folio book was created using stone, late, and offset lithography, metal and polymer letterpress, woodcuts, handmade and machine made papers and is hand bound. The colophon cites the several printers, artists, and others who contributed to this beautiful achievement. Bound in white paper covers with an open spine and the letters NDP on the cover. The book is housed in a blue cloth covered slipcase. In fine condition. Measures 13 x 18 inches. ARTISTSB/111720. More
A Cloud in the Trousers. Prologue and Part One.
Bennington, VT: The Bird Press, 2016. Number 6 of 38 copies, signed and numbered by the artist and translator. A collaboration between the illustrator / book artist and translator. This is a new translation of the prologue and first part of Mayakovsky's first long poem, originally published in 1915. The Russian modernist poet and cultural icon Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893 - 1930) committed suicide in Moscow 15 years after publishing this piece. According to the translator: "Thorsten Dennerline's twisting artworks suspended against a blue-sky backdrop seemed fitting for the existential crisis in this poem. Mayakovsky writes in verbal cartwheels and associative flights of language, allowing wordplay, sonic riffs, and rhyme to drive his rhetoric and imagery. I sought to preserve both each line's intended meaning and Mayakovsky's rhythm and music. I also attempted to make the poem's diction smooth, accessible, and idiomatically modern to a 21st century American ear." Fascinated with the intensity of Mayakovsky's work and life as well as the historical happenings that influenced him, Thorsten decided to illustrate his work with "monsters." As the drawings developed with layers of ink and detail he "began seeing [them] as bodies, less as monsters and more as physical, mortal, vulnerable beings." Bound in yellow paper wrappers with black title to front cover and binding sewn with red thread along spine. Printed with lithography and letterpress at the Working Dog Press and Horton Tank Graphics. The plate lithographs were printed in sixteen layers of ink. Housed in a grey handmade paper wrapper featuring one of Thorsten's illustrations snaking around the front and rear panels along with another on the inside flap. Thorsten Dennerline creates paintings, drawings, and prints in addition to artists' books. He has exhibited work across the U.S. as well as in Chile and Denmark; and his work is represented in numerous collections including Yale University Library, the Library of Congress, UCLA, Stanford University, and the Kunstindustri Musset (Denmark). Size: 8.5 x 7 inches. ARTB/120120. Fine. More