Scimitar and Song: (19 ISSUES- POETRY MAGAZINE).
Jonesboro, N.C. 1940-1947. Paperback. All issues very good in side stapled paper wrappers. Includes 19 issues from 1940, 1941, 1942, and 1947. Poetry. POE310261. Very Good. More
Jonesboro, N.C. 1940-1947. Paperback. All issues very good in side stapled paper wrappers. Includes 19 issues from 1940, 1941, 1942, and 1947. Poetry. POE310261. Very Good. More
Mariscat Press, 2008. Paperback. Signed by the author. In side-stapled cream paper wrappers with purple title to front cover. Minor wear / light soiling to covers. Clean interior. 31 pages. POE/031221. Very Good. More
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1866. Hardcover. Includes the first printing of Melville's poem "The Cumberland" on page 474. Also includes chapters from "Armadale" by Wilkie Collins. In the original paper wrappers with black title to spine and front cover. Heavy chipping / loss to paper on top and bottom of spine (about two inches of loss, not affecting the title). Rubbing and light soiling to covers. Occasional spots of foxing to interior. Illustrated. Pages 409 - 544 plus advertisements. PER/050718. Very Good. More
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1866. Hardcover. Includes the first appearance of Melville's poem "Gettysburg" on page 209. Also includes chapters from "Armadale" by Wilkie Collins and recollections of the Civil War by a Virginian. In the original paper wrappers with black title to spine and front cover. Chipping / loss to paper on spine. Rubbing and light soiling to rear cover. Closed tear along hinge of rear cover. Occasional spots of foxing to interior. Illustrated. Pages 137 - 272 plus advertisements. PER/050718. Very Good. More
London: Macmillan and Co., 1888. Hardcover. First Edition. Apparently a presentation copy, with an inserted sheet printed "From the Author" and with the bookplate of the recipient, G.W. Foote. Foote, a friend of Meredith's, was a British secularist and journal editor. In the original dark blue cloth with light bumping to corners. Interior page very good with light aging to margins and occasional pencil mark next to a passage. The inserted sheet has a browned crease along the top edge. In very good condition. 136 pages. POE/020113. Very Good. More
Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1882. Hardcover. A novel written in verse about a young women in 19th century England and her pursuit of happiness. This is the author's best known work. Illustrated with full pages plates and in text vignettes. In a gift binding. Beautifully bound in full tan leather boards. Both covers feature a marbled tree design. Gilt title to dark brown title label on spine. Floral devices to five spine compartments. Gilt design to edges and dentelles of both boards. Marbled endpapers and full edges gilt. Minor bookworm damage to inside of front board. Two inch split to leather at bottom of front hinge. Rubbing and minor wear to hinges, edges, and corners of boards. Cracking to leather on spine. Occasional spots of soiling and finger smudges to margins. A few small spots of foxing. Light evidence of dampstain to about 1/4 inch along all exterior margins of textblock. A few small blue pen markings to title page. Text and images are not affected. Very slight cockling to pages. Previous owner's signature in pen dated 1881 to front free endpaper. Slight splay to boards. An attractive book despite noted condition issues. 332 pages. POE/081722. Very Good. More
[Athens]: Publications 8 1/2, [1966]. Paperback. Scarce. Signed by Merrill on the title page. First translation of the poems into Greek. Translated by Vassili Vassilikos. According to Washington University's "James Merrill, a Poet 31", the limitation of this edition is 300 copies. The title is translated there as Hoi chilies kai he deutere nuchta. In illustrated grey paper wrappers with black title (in Greek) to front cover. Offsetting from ink signature to page facing title page, else clean and bright. All text is in Greek. 45 pages. POE/110316. Fine. More
Baltimore: Contemporary Poetry, 1952. Hardcover. 8vo.Very good in orange cloth covered boards with gilt title to front board and to spine. Minor fading to spine and corner of front board. Interior is clean and bright. Untrimmed pages. 40 pages. Poetry Anthology. POEANT11222. Very Good. More
Baltimore: Contemporary Poetry, 1949. Paperback. Very good in red, white and grey illustrated side stapled paper wrappers with red and black title to front wrapper. Minor yellowing and edgewear to exterior. Minor yellowing to pages. 16 pages + ads. POE/052115. Very Good. More
London: Fleuron, 1924. Hardcover. Number 46 of 350 copies. This is a lovely printed edition of Milton's poem, first published in 1671. It includes three full page illustrations and a number of ornaments by the noted artist Thomas Lowinsky. There is also an envelope with three of his illustrations protected by tissue guards in a rear pocket. Bound in green paper covered boards with a black cloth spine with gilt titling. Corners are bumped, some light soiling, and wear to top and bottom edges of spine. Interior pages are clean and bright and unopened. There is a cracked gutter at pages 40-41 not affecting the tightness of the binding. A nice copy in very good condition. Measures 6.75 x 8.75 inches. 80 pages. POET/090123. Very Good. More
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, [1896]. Hardcover. First Edition. Presentation copy: "For Victoria Ellis with the affectionate greetings of Marie Ada Molineux Venice 1926." Affixed below the inscription is a small photograph taken iin Venice. The author has also signed the title page and written in the date of publication. With bookplate of recipient on front pastedown. In original red cloth with light bumping and small chips to top of spine. Interior pages are clean. A nice copy in very good condition. 520 pages including index. POE/032513. Very Good. More
London: Remington & Co., 1879. Hardcover. First Edition. This was Moore's second publication, and apart from a broadside of which only one copy is known, this is by far the rarest of his books. No copy has appeared at auction in the past decade. George Moore (1852-1933) was an Irish novelist, poet, critic, and dramatist who is often regarded as the first great modern Irish novelist. This play was done in collaboration with French dramatist Bernard Lopez, who had ignited Moore's interest in drama when they were fellow residents at the Hotel de Russie in Paris. Moore made the suggestion to collaborate after the failure of his first work, Flowers of Passion. The result was this, a five act verse tragedy that was never produced. It was considered at the time almost unreadable because of its poor verse and wooden characters. In later years Moore had very little regard for this early effort and never considered its reissue in any of the collected editions of his work. Bound in original blindstamped black cloth with gilt title and authors to front cover and title to spine. In Edwin Gilcher's bibliography of Moore he describes this as the "Theater (?) impression, slightly larger in size, repaged and without prefatory matter presumably...issued to send to theater managers in an effort to secure a production." Corners lightly bumped and small piece missing from top on spine. Interior pages are very nice. Ownership signature of Henry Knight on title page and bookplate of Rosita de Texada. In very good condition. Housed in a green silk folding case. 139 pages. DRA/080315. Very Good. More
New York: R. Martin, No date, Circa 19th century. Paperback. 8vo. Good+ in illustrated off-white side stapled paper wrappers with black title to front wrapper. Foxing, soiling and browning to front wrapper. Damp stains to first 3 pages. Small open tear top edge of first 4 pages including the front wrapper. Else is clean and bright with many unopened pages. Poetry. POE4/2042. Good + in Wraps. More
Baltimore: D.H. Carroll, 1888. Hardcover. Very good in blue cloth with gilt lettering to spine, which reads: "Memorial of Mrs. L.F. Lyttleton." Top edge of pages in gilt. Minor rubbing to exterior and bumping to corners and spine ends especially to the foot of spine. Gift inscription, and the following comment: Received this book from Dr. Morgan at whose home I was very often the guest of himself and his estimable wife. Else is clean and bright. 336 pages. Poetry. POE2/9010. Very Good. More
New York: Exposition Press, (1954). First Edition. Hardcover. SCARCE. FIRST EDITION INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR. 8vo. Grey cloth covered boards with blue title to spine. Light yellowing to interior. Slight musty smell. Inscription to front free end page. White and blue dust jacket with blue title to spine and white title to front panel. Minor foxing, edgewear, and browning to dust jacket. 94 pages. POE/021819. Very Good / Very Good. More
London: John Lane and the Bodley Head Ltd. King, Jessie M. Hardcover. A lovely edition of William Morris's poems. In addition to the title poem, this romantic collection of 30 works includes King Arthur’s Tomb, Rapunzel, and Old Love. The exquisite black and white illustrations throughout exemplify Jessie M. King’s (1875-1949) imaginative and mysterious style of art. King was one of the foremost artists of the Glasgow school, active at the turn of the century. An anomaly - the illustration facing page 18 is the same as that facing page 22. The illustration listed for page 22 is not present. There is a beautiful King cover illustration in gilt, as well as lovely headpieces, and tailpieces throughout. Binding is bright red with very slight bumping to spine and book corners. Very light foxing to front and rear end papers but interior is bright and clean. Very good plus condition. 310 pages. MOR022322. Very Good+. More
London: Alexander Moring Ltd, 1904. Hardcover. From the illustrious Waugh family, with the bookplate of Evelyn and Alec's father, Arthur. The name "Alec Waugh, Xmas 1916" is written in pencil on a free front end page, so it is unclear who owned the book when. Bound in red cloth with the title embossed. Spine has title and author in gilt. In very nice condition except for some light fraying to spine ends and barely bumped boards. Interior pages show some browning from age and darker spots on the fore-edge. Tear to top right margin to pages 201-204, pages 201-202 missing the piece torn. Text not affected. 255 pages. MOR/070710. Near Fine. More
New York: n.p., 1927. Hardcover. One of 245 copies privately printed for George A. Nelson as a Christmas keepsake. This George Nelson may be the American socialist who was the 1936 Socialist candidate for Vice-President of the United States, here reprinting a poem by famed British Socialist William Morris. Bound in blue paper boards with a white paper spine and title label affixed to front cover. In near fine condition. Housed in a white cardboard box with blue paper lid. Book measures 5 x 8 inches. Unpaginated [4 pages]. MOR/112918. Near Fine. More
Baltimore: Editions Imagi, 2005. Hardcover. First edition. The first gathering of Murray's original work in book form. Fine in blue cloth boards with silver title to spine. In fine blue dust jacket with white spine panel and blue title to spine. 74 pages. POE/072710. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. More
New York: McBride, 1922. Hardcover. Robert Nathan (1894–1985) was an American novelist and poet who published prose and poetry for 56 years, with his last novel appearing in 1975 and his last published poetry in 1973. His novels The Bishop's Wife, One More Spring, and Portrait of Jennie were converted into films. In the early 1940s, he became a screenwriter for MGM. Youth Grows Old was Nathan's 3rd publication, and his first of poetry. Read in sequence, the poems within give the spiritual and emotional autobiography of a young man. First Edition. Octavo. Black cloth covered boards with gilt title to spine. Small light spots of discoloration to the rear board and minor bumping to spine ends. Interior is clean and bright. Maroon dust jacket with black title to front and spine panel. Light wear to dust jacket includes fading to spine and one small spots of discoloration to front panel. 54 pages. Poetry. POE4/02061. Very Good + in Very Good + DJ. More
London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1905. Hardcover. First Edition. RARE PRESENTATION COPY. Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) was an English author and poet who is best known today for her children’s books. Publishing under E. Nesbit, she wrote or collaborated on over sixty books for children. She was a follower of William Morris and one of the founders of the Fabian Society, the British socialist movement. This book is inscribed: “To Olindo Malagodi from E. Nesbit July 1905.” Malagodi (1870-1934) was a prominent Italian liberal journalist and writer. He trained as a journalist in Britain, became the London correspondent for several newspapers, and eventually became the editor of La Tribuna in Rome. He was a close friend of Nesbit and her husband, Hubert Bland, eventually living near them as he raised his family. His son, Giovanni became an important Italian politician. Bound in the original green cloth with lovely floral and fleur-de-lis design in gilt on front cover along with author and title. Light bumping and small light stain to top of rear cover; otherwise in beautiful condition. Front and rear endpapers are foxed but interior pages are bright and clean. Each section is preceded by a blank page with a flower illustration. Each flower is a different color. Nesbit’s books of verse are uncommon and nearly impossible to find signed. 143 pages plus 4 pages of advertisements for Nesbit’s books. POE/050611. Very Good. More
London: Lawrence and Bullen, Ltd., 1896. Hardcover. First edition. Presentation copy, inscribed To W. Radcliffe from C. Newton-Robinson Sept 1906. Charles Edmund Newton-Robinson (1853 – 1913) was an English poet, fencer, gemologist, barrister, and yachtsman. He founded a fencing club and participated in the Olympics, winning the Silver medal in the 1906 Olympic Games in Athens. Original grey cloth with faded gilt title to spine. Small spot on spine, spine head a bit rubbed, else a very good copy. Poetry. POE/4113. Very Good. More
Sherman Oaks, CA: Ninja Press, 1995. Number 129 of 160 numbered cpies, with 18 produced hors de commerce. Signed by the poet on the limitation page. Carolee Campbell's Ninja Press began in 1984. Since that time, she has produced about 30 books of poetry and many broadsides that are renowned for their fine craftsmanship and distinctive artistry. She is recognized as one of the most important of contemporary book artists practicing today. In book artist Russell Maret's magnificent bibliography of the press, Dispatches From the Lizard Brain, he documents the life and work of Carolee Campbell. The foreword and afterword of the bibliography beautifully describe Campbell's ethos as an artist and bookmaker that has informed her work since she began making books in 1984. Russell Maret writes of her: "It takes a special kind of person to know that what one is working on is not ready to be discussed. It takes someone...who unhurriedly allows her books to germinate in her lizard brain until they are ready to be dispatched into the world. With each new book Carolee teaches the rest of us how it should be done - not how to make books like hers , but like her, to make books the way the books want to be made." Manuel Cordova is perhaps one of the best known productions to be issued by the press. The poem was written by the esteemed American poet W.S. Merwin. From the prospectus: "This special edition [of the book] may be unfolded and read in hand, stanza by stanza, or opened entirely, thus revealing all forty-three, fourteen-line stanzas. Fully extended, the book is fifteen feet long. The five-color image of a river undulates alongside the poem, printed in black, while the [type] setting of the poem itself mirrors the sepentine meanders of the river." A five-color printed river design runs parallel to the text of Merwin's poem, which is printed in black. Campbell wrote in her chapbook, Chasing the Ideal Book:..."this book comes closest to my never-ending chase for The Ideal Book." Designed, printed, and bound by Carolee Campbell . From the colophon: The type is Samson uncial. Printed on handmade papers of persimmon-washed kakishibu for the text and raw flax paper for the enclosure. The enclosure is fastened with alum-tawed goat skin and bone. The map of the world printed on the liner of the enclosure is from the original, the first to show the world's currents, drawn in 1665 by Athanasius Kircher.The map is hand-tinted in five colors echoing the colors of the river. Housed in a plexiglass slipcase. In fine condition. The book can be found in many institutional collections including the Getty Center, the New York Public Library, Houghton Library at Harvard University, Yale, University of Illinois, Brown, the British Library, and at Trinity College in Dublin. PRI/071023. Fine. More
Chico, CA: Field & Oettel, 1969. Hardcover. A rare book of verses and Biblical quotes from the California poet Frances Oettel (1912-1973). It was apparently self-published and reproduces handwritten pages of the verses that she called psalms. A stated first printing numbered "191" in ink on the rear pastedown above a stamp with a Chico California address. The bi-fold pages are loose within a green pebbled cloth hard cover folder with title and author on an orange paper label affixed to the front cover. Fading to edges of covers. There are four delicate color illustrations depicting a tree as it appears each season. Inserted is a letter dated 1970 that seems to refer to the writer although with a different last name, saying that her book took years of effort. A charming and very personal book from this religious writer. In very good condition. Unpaginated [86 pages]. PRI/020118. Very Good. More
Maplewood, NJ: Olchef Press, 2020. Number 12 of 55 copies. Signed by the poet and signed and numbered by the book artist, Sydney Jean Reisen. Reisen studied at Rutgers and at the Corcoran College of Art and Design. Her books can be found in several collections nationally including the Library of Congress, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Getty Institute. Poet John Yau (1950 - ) has published over 50 books of poetry, fiction, and art criticism. His first book of poetry was published in 1976. Since then, he has won acclaim for his poetry’s attentiveness to visual culture and linguistic surface. In poems that frequently pun, trope, and play with the English language [Poetry Foundation]. Catullus (c. 84 – c. 54 BC), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His surviving works are still read widely and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art [Wikipedia]. This lovely book marries Yau's evocative poem to Reisen's thoughtful and beautifully executed artist's book. She writes in her prospectus: "If Catullus is going to sail to China he better have a boat that floats. John Yau’s words take a poet to his destination, but words are impermanent. Printing, in particular letterpress, give words physicality, it forms and protects them. Printing creates text. It was the mission of this book to not impede the words’ journey by making sure the text was equally seaworthy. First, there needed to be a sea. The element of water was introduced by the flexible fibers of kozo paper. Kozo was the right substrate, but in turn it created problems of buoyancy. Another characteristic of the paper, transparency, sunk the text into a puddle. To open the route and keep the text afloat, a rig and a crew were implemented. The structure of the book, the materials, and printing techniques were developed to fill these roles. Once the text was secure on the surface, the book granted the text more liberties. It was able to rise and fall, fly and dive as it journeyed eastward. Hopefully the reader enjoys the ride more than Catullus. Nine poems are printed on Sekishu and color kozo from Hiromi Paper and stab bound in a shop-made muslin bookcloth to construct a fluid and strong book. The texts are set in cold metal Bembo in tandem with prints crafted with ornamental letterpress, wood and resingrave block, and pochoir. The applied colors are distemper inks derived from historic recipes for preindustrial wallpaper production." Housed in a black archival box with a white spine with black titling. In fine condition. Book measures 6 x 7 inches; Box is 7 x 8 inches. ARTB/092821. Fine. More