American Poetry
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A note on OCLC
As is now the norm, OCLC counts are tentative, at best, as we recognize that searches using different qualifiers will often turn up different results. Searches are now further complicated by the vast numbers of digital, microfilm, and even print-on-demand copies, which have polluted the database considerably, making it difficult, without numerous phone calls or emails, to determine the actual number of tangible copies. Hence, even though the counts herein have been recently checked, most all should be taken as a measure of approximation.
1. John Keats. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin at the Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1925.
$500
First edition, 2 volumes, 8vo, pp. xx, 631,[1]; viii, 662; 32 plates; spine a little sunned; very good in original red cloth, gilt-lettered spines.
Presentation copy inscribed in volume I by Lowell to "Grace, with much love from Amy, February, 1925." Beneath this inscription is once from Grace, "with much love," dated 1977. Attacheded to the front pastedown is a Christmas card, signed "Amy" produced by the publishers on behalf of Lowell, noting that the book will not be ready at Christmas, but that it will come in January. "Grace" is likely Amy's friend and poet, Grace Hazard Conkling. Lowell wrote the Introduction to Conkling's book of verse, Little Girl in 1920.
2. Joie de vivre. [Davis, CA]: Blue Suede Shoes, [1972].
$100
First edition, oblong 8vo, pp. [18]; printed from typescript on pink and brown paper; some toning, else near fine in original pictorial wrappers, side-stapled. Cover art by the author. From the library of Allan Kornblum, poet, fine press printer, and publisher who founded the Toothpaste Press and Coffee House Press.
This copy inscribed: "For Allen [sic] & Cinda 'Don't look back (not at this book)' Keith Abbott (I don't)."
3. Red lettuce. Fremont, California: The Fault, 1974.
$65
First edition, 8vo, pp. [28]; printed from typescript; illustrations by Opal L. Nations; light toning, else near fine in original pictorial wrappers. From the library of Allan Kornblum, poet, fine press printer, and publisher who founded Coffee House Press.
This copy inscribed, "For Allan & Cinda 'This, my most memorable book was written with you in mind.' Keith."
4. The book of Rimbaud. [New York]: New Rivers Press, 1977.
$75
First edition limited to 750 copies, square 8vo, pp. [42]; original pictorial wrappers; some toning at the edges and one or two small spots, else near fine. From the library of Allan Kornblum, fine press printer, poet, and founder of the Coffee House Press.
This copy inscribed by Abbott: "For Allan & Cinda remembering fondly the night when you helped me write this - Keith."
5. Gone sailing. Poems ... Drawings by Ann Mikolowski. West Branch, Iowa: Toothpaste Press, 1980.
$50
Edition limited to 1150 copies, this one of 150 numbered and signed by the author and artist (this, no. 140); tall 8vo, pp. [32]; 6 full-page drawings by Ann Mikolowski; fine copy in original cream cloth, printed paper label on upper cover.
Peich 47.
6. Margaretta's rime. [West Branch, Iowa]: Toothpaste Press for Bookslinger Editions, 1983.
$100
Letterpress broadside, edition limited to 70 numbered copies (this, marked 'os' - out-of-series?), approx. 14½" x 10½", printed in brown and black; printed on the occasion of the author's reading at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, February 2, 1982. This copy signed by Adam.
Only 3 in OCLC: Buffalo, San Diego, and Delaware. Also included in the Bookslinger Twenty Broadsides portfolio, 1981-82.
7. Her lullaby. N.p.: printed for Léonie Adams, 1947.
$50
12mo, pp. [4]; fine in original blue handmade paper wrappers.
"An educator, consultant, editor, and poet, Léonie Adams was best known for her lyric poetry reminiscent of both the Romantic and Metaphysical periods. Her poetry won her several awards, including the Harriet Monroe Poetry Award, the Shelley Memorial Award, and the Bollingen Prize" (poetryfoundation[dot]org). Adams also served as the Poetry Consultant for the Library of Congress from 1948 to 1949.
Emery, Nebraska, and Virginia only in OCLC.
8. Rincon poetico / Poétic corner / Coin poetique. Iowa City: Pacific Inland Press, 1975.
$125
Edition limited to 210 copies, this one of 150 on Strathmore Text; square 8vo, pp. [26] frenchfold; printed in red and black; 4 illustrations by P. G. Montoya; original plain tan wrappers; fine. From the library of Kim Merker.
The poems are in Spanish, French (translated by Katerina Anghelaki Rooke), and English (translated by David William Young). "In cooperation with the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, the Pacific Inland Press has published two hundred & ten copies of this pamphlet. One hundred & fifty copies are printed on Strathmore Text, sixty on Suzuki, a handmade Japanese paper. The type is Romanée."
OCLC locates copies at Yale, Iowa, Princeton, Notre Dame, Ohio, and Arizona.
9. Rincon poetico / Poétic corner / Coin poetique. Iowa City: Pacific Inland Press, 1975.
$175
Edition limited to 210 copies, this one of 60 on Suzuki handmade, square 8vo, pp. [26] frenchfold; printed in red and black; 4 illustrations by P. G. Montoya; original plain blue wrappers; short tear in the fore-edge, else fine. From the library of Kim Merker.
The poems are in Spanish, French (translated by Katerina Anghelaki Rooke), and English (translated by David William Young). "In cooperation with the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, the Pacific Inland Press has published two hundred & ten copies of this pamphlet. One hundred & fifty copies are printed on Strathmore Text, sixty on Suzuki, a handmade Japanese paper. The type is Romanée."
OCLC locates copies at Yale, Iowa, Princeton, Notre Dame, Ohio, and Arizona.
10. Moonstone. Volume I, no. 1 [all published?]. [St. Louis: printed by S.A.T. Press], June, 1971.
$45
8vo, pp. [16], 9-33, [5]; printed from typescript; 4 full-page uncredited illustrations; original black cloth-backed drab wrappers; generally fine. From the library of Allan Kornblum, fine press printer, poet, and founder of the Coffee House Press.
Contributors include Allan Kornblum, John Knoepfle, Eileen Holloran, Neil McAndrew, Kathleen Ahner, Antia Martin, and others. We find no other issues that were published.
Not in OCLC.
11. Punch the immortal liar. New York: Alred A. Knopf, 1921.
$50
First edition, 8vo, pp. [8], 80; near fine copy in original patterened boards, orange wrap-around label.
12. Poems of the middle west...A Bookfellow book. Cedar Rapids: Torch Press, 1942.
$50
First edition, small 8vo, pp. 69; tan cloth-backed boards (a bit soiled), paper spine and cover labels printed in tan and black; a very nice copy inscribed by the author.
13. The poems of Thomas Bailey Aldrich illustrated by the Paint and Clay Club. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin and Company, 1882.
$45
8vo, pp. [4], 228, [26]; portrait frontispiece and 28 text engravings, many full-page, by Marcus Waterman, Francis Davis Millet, William Ladd Taylor, etc., engraved by W. B. Closson, J. P. Davis, Frank French, and others; original pictorial gray wrappers; spine perished, upper cover nearly loose, textblock clean, fair. Uncommon in wrappers.
BAL 315.
14. "A Flag of Peace." Two-page typescript, signed and dated. Healdsburgh, California: June 18, 1914.
$100
2-page folio typescript (approx. 13½" x 8¾"). consisting of 6 sestets, beginning: "O Nations of Earth! Make a banner of Peace / Make an emblem to wave when carnage shall cease..."
Inscribed at the end: "To Dr. Thomas E. Green / Sincerely yours / Julius Myron Alexander / Healdsburg, California / June 18, 1914." At the bottom on the page Alexander has written: "Not for publication."
In fact, the poem was the title poem of a book of poetry Alexander published in 1916. Julius Myron Alexander (1857-1932) wrote stories and poetry for newspapers of Sonoma County, Ca., which earned him the honorary title "Poet Laureate of Sonoma County." The poem "The Flag of Peace" was noted by Ernest Latimer Finley in his History of Sonoma County as one of J.M. Alexander's most ambitious efforts. He lived in Healdsburg, one of five children born to Charles and Achsah Smith Alexander. His occupations included clerk, insurance assessor, writer, and publisher.
15. Time's now. Ya es tiempo. Houston: Arte Publico Press, 1985.
$50
First edition of the author's first book, 8vo, pp. 86; fine in original pictorial wrappers.
16. 7 poets and the war. Baltimore: Baltimore Committee to End the War in Vietnam, 1966.
$125
Staplebound chapbook, 8.5 x 7 inches, pp. [12]; white paper wrappers; paper aged at edges, overall very good.
Although not stated, this copy is from the library of Israel "Izzy" Young, former owner of the Folklore Center in Greenwich Village, New York.
Not found in OCLC.
17. No visible means of support. [San Lorenzo]: Shameless Hussy Press, 1971].
$75
First edition, square 8vo (approx. 8½" x 7"); pp. 71, [1]; printed from typescript in various color inks; price sticker on front cover, else near fine in original printed red wrappers, stapled. From the library of Allan Kornblum, poet, fine press printer, and publisher who founded Coffee House Press.
This copy inscribed, "For Allan, love Alta."
18. [Amherst College.] Documents relating to the college career of Asa Bullard. Amherst: 1825-32.
$2,000
19 documents in all, including rent receipts, a manuscript musical score and lyrics, some poems, and a letter appealing for donations to Amherst on the verso of a printed letter asking for the same; also, a receipt from Amherst Academy, another from Phillips Academy, an 1871 Amherst College Jubilee (50th year reunion) silk ribbon, and a 22-page pamphlet A Genealogical Sketch of Dr. Artemus Bullard (Worcester, 1878).
In 1832 Bullard married Lucretia Dickinson whose brother Edward was Emily Dickinson's father who had helped found Amherst College. Also a carte-de-visite photograph of Asa, ca. 1860s.
19. A critical and biographical sketch of Longfellow. Minneapolis, MN: [publisher not identified, 1910].
$125
First edition, 8vo, pp. 11, [5]; 1 plate showing portrait of Longfellow; original leather-grained tan paper, saddle-stitched, with decorative ribbon, the very slightest of soiling, otherwise a fine copy.
A brief biography of Longfellow, apparently one of a series compiled and published by the author from sources "of the first rank, and the most authentic source."
OCLC locates just four copies: Brown, and 3 in Minnesota.
20. Two stories. San Francisco: Bill Presson, July, 1973.
$75
First edition, 4to, 16 leaves printed recto and verso from typescript, and contained in the original mailing envelope, the front of which bears an image of a road map incorporating Seattle; illustrations by Johnny Stanton, special assistance from Fits Cooperative; light wear; near fine.
21. Timepieces. Champaign, Illinois: [The Ceres Press], 1971.
$60
First edition limited to 165 copies, 8vo, pp. [36]; 5 full-page drawings by Thomas Kovacs printed in red; fine copy in original cream cloth stamped in black on upper cover. From the library of Kim Merker.
Designed by A. Doyle Moore of the Finial Press and printed in Fairfield type by the Ceres Press at the University of Illinois.
This copy inscribed by the poet: "Best of everything! Sally Anderson."
22. If I were fire. Thirty four sonnets ... translated by Felix Stefanile from the Italian. Iowa City: Windhover Press, 1987.
$75
Edition limited to 250 copies, oblong 12mo, pp. [52]; fine in original red Japanese paper over boards with gray paper strips over exposed spine, paper label on the upper cover; title calligraphed in red in each copy by Glen Epstein; fine. From the library of Kim Merker.
Berger, Printing & the Mind of Merker, 89.
23. The modern Gilpin. A ballad of Bull Run. New York: Historical Publishing Company, 1866.
$100
First edition, 8vo, pp. 19, [3]; printed self-wrappers; light soiling to wrappers, old creases, good and sound. A satirical poem about the war correspondent Will Russell, describing him as a gluttonous and overcultured coward, who goes to Bull Run to observe the battle and immediately flees straight back to Washingto DC as soon as he senses danger. Sabin 49807.
24. Locus Solus I. Palma, Mallorca: Graficas Miramar, Winter, 1961.
$100
12mo, pp. 167, [1]; original printed tan wrappers; generally very good.
This copy inscribed "To Allen [sic] Kornblum with best wishes Kenneth Koch, May 1992."
With contributions by the editors, as well as Barbara Guest, Anne Porter, Frank O'Hara, George Montgomery, Fairfield Porter, and others.
25. Chinese whispers. Poems. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, [2002].
$150
First edition, 8vo, pp. [2], viii, 100; fine copy in a fine, unclipped dust jacket.
Inscribed "For Allan Kornblum, John Ashbery, May 8, 2004."
26. Self-portrait in a convex mirror. Poems. New York: Viking Press, 1975.
$175
First edition, 8vo, pp. [12], 83, [1]; light toning to the board extremities, else a fine copy in a near fine unclipped dust jacket. Winner of the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
27. Three unpublished poems ... Introduction by Edward Mendelson. New York: New York Public Library, 1986.
$125
Edition limited to 222 copies printed at the Kelly-Winterton Press; 8vo, pp. [26]; 4 tipped-in facsimiles; original cream paper spine over maroon paper-covered boards, stamped in gilt on upper cover and spine; fine. From the library of Kim Merker.
28. Diary of a prime-time crier. [North Truro? Mass.]: S. Baker, 1990.
$75
First edition, 6¼" x 6", consisting of three 5-panel cross-shaped pieces in decreasing size, folded into squares, and each inserted into the larger piece(s). Fine.
Illustrated excerpts of events from the early years of the life of the artist's son. "This book was made possible through a mass productions grant from the Mass. Council on the Arts + Humanities in conjunction with the Truro Center for the Arts."
29. Charms of melody, or; siren medley. No. 1 [all published]. [Charlestown, Mass.: Allen & Watts, 1824.]
$125
First edition, 8vo, pp. 60; stitched, as issued; uncut, but a compromised copy, with half the first leaf torn away, with considerable loss of text on recto and verso, including the imprint; stitching loosening. American Imprints 15155 locates only the Harvard copy. OCLC adds Brown.
30. Scenes from East Hill Farm: seasons with Allen Ginsberg. Coventry, [UK]: The Beat Scene Press, 2007.
$45
First edition limited to 125 signed and numbered copies, 8vo, pp. [36]; fine in original pictorial wrappers. From the library of Allan Kornblum, poet, fine press printer, and publisher who founded Coffee House Press.
This copy inscribed: "For Allan, with all good wishes, Gordon 12-10-07 Lexington."
31. [Ballads.] Solomon's temple and Bruce's address to his army. Providence: printed and sold [by Henry Trumbull] at no. 25, High Street, Providence, where are kept constantly for Sale 200 other kinds of the most new and popular Songs and Ballads ... great allowance made to Shopkeepers, Pedlers, &c, who buy to sell again, n.d. [ca. late 1820s].
$500
Quarto broadside (approx. 10½" x 9¼"), text in double column beneath the running head; previous folds, some wear at the extremities and a few small stains; good or better.
Two poems with promotional paragraph from the publisher printed beneath the poems, across both columns, below a thin rule. Some uneven type-setting for the caption title of the second poem, adding to the charm of the printing.
Not found in American Imprints, OCLC, or Singerman.
32. Young inquirer. Muscatine, Iowa: The Prairie Press, 1937.
$50
First edition limited to 225 copies, signed by Bass on the half-title page; 8vo; pp. [10], 13-72, [2]; title page printed in red and black; fine copy in original red cloth with printed paper label on upper cover, torn original glassine jacket. From the library of Kim Merker.
Cheever 10.
33. The angler's song. [Iowa City]: Christmas [printed at the Stone Wall Press for our family and our friends] , 1962.
$75
16mo, pp. [8]; 2 wood engravings by John Roy; fine in original salmon wrappers. From the library of Kim Merker.
Not in Berger, Printing and the Mind of Merker. Amherst only in OCLC.
34. The mad shoemaker. West Branch, Iowa: Toothpaste Press, February, 1973.
$150
First edition limited to 300 copies, this one of 26 lettered and signed by Bataki and Dave Morice (this, the letter D); 4to, 11" x 8½", side-stapled, pp. [42]; printed from typescript; cover linoleum block by Morice; fine copy in original pictorial wrappers.
Peich 16.
35. The mad shoemaker. West Branch, Iowa: Toothpaste Press, February, 1973.
$50
First edition limited to 300 copies, this one of 274 in the regular edition; 4to, 11" x 8½", side-stapled, pp. [42]; printed from typescript; cover linoleum block by Morice; fine copy in original pictorial wrappers.
Peich 16.
36. Sex education. [St. Paul]: Bieler Press, 1983.
$45
Edition limited to 250 copies signed by the author; 12mo, pp. [8]; single sheet folded to make 8 pages; original pink printed wrappers; fine.
Originally published as a broadside in 1975, the Bieler Press's rare first publication. In our experience the pink wrappers are less common than the baby blue. Smith, Bieler, 29.
37. Beeton's great book of poetry: from Cædmon and King Alfred's Boethius to Browning and Tennyson. Containing nearly two thousand of the best pieces of English language; with sketches of the history of the poetry of our country, and biographical notices of five hundred of the poets. London: Ward, Lock, & Tyler, 1871.
$125
First edition, 2 volumes, large 8vo; text printed in double columns; contemporary three quarter red morocco over marbled boards, gilt-ruled and lettered spine in six compartments, raised bands, all edges marbled, marbled endpapers; spines darkened, general shelf wear, light scuffing; contemporary ownership inscription on flyleaves, textblocks fine. Very good over all.
From the preface: "The intention of the Projector of the present Book of Poetry was to collect and publish as many poems, or parts of poems, as could be comprised within one large and handsome, but not unwieldy Volume". A brief section devoted to American poetry included at the end of Vol. II. The editor, Samuel Orchart Beeton (1831-1877), incapable of fitting all his favorite poetry into one volume, is best known as the publisher of the first British edition of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" as well as his wife's cookbook and guide on running a proper Victorian household, "Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management".
38. I can see you. Champaign, Illinois: privately printed, 1969.
$75
Edition limited to 25 copies, "hand printed from Bulmer type, on Shinsetsu paper and bound in boards by Tom Nitz as part of the Graduate Graphic Design Program, University of Illinois," oblong 8vo, pp. [16]; printed in red, gray, and black; fine copy in unadorned cream linen. From the library of Kim Merker.
Not found in OCLC.
39. Drawn by stones, by earth, by things that have been in the fire. New York: Atheneum, 1984.
$50
First edition, 8vo, pp. [12], 3-52, [2]; fine copy in the dust jacket. From the library of Kim Merker.
This copy signed by Bell on the title page and additionally inscribed by him to Kim Merker on the half-title: "To Kim - with love - Marvin, October 1984 Iowa City."
40. Iris of creation. [Port Townsend, Washington]: Copper Canyon Press, [1990].
$45
First edition, 8vo, pp. [14], 9-83, [5]; fine copy in the dust jacket. From the library of Kim Merker.
This copy inscribed by Bell to Kim Merker on the half-title: "To Kim - Gratitude and love - Marvin, Sept. 1990."
41. Poems for Nathan and Saul. Mt. Vernon, Iowa: The Hillside Press, Cornell College, 1966.
$200
Edition limited to 350 copies, 8vo, pp. [3]-15, [3]; original printed blue-gray wrappers; fine. From the library of Kim Merker.
Apparently, this is Bell's first stand-alone publication. Only the first 25 copies of the edition were numbered. This copy is boldly proclaimed to be "copy number two." Furthermore, it is inscribed "For Kim and Con, 'fears turning formal and mild' - Marvin Bell, 31 May 1966." Merker was soon to publish, under the Stone Wall Press imprint, Bell's first collection of poems later in 1966, Things We Dreamt We Died For.
The Hillside Press was founded by the poet, Robert Dana, the poet-in-residence at Cornell College.
42. Shakespeare's wages. Fifteen poems ... Drawings by Nikki Ruddy. [Winona, Minnesota?]: Gendun Editions, 2004.
$150
Edition limited to "approximately" 150 copies signed by Bell, square 4to, pp. [30]; fine in original maroon cloth, printed paper label on spine. from the library of Kim Merker.
"Handset from Perpetua types ... printed on Foxfire & Somerset papers by ZCLC in the Spring and Summer of 2004 - impossible without fuel of all forms from CN Oness & kin."
43. The book of the dead man. [Port Townsend, Washington]: Copper Canyon Press, [1994].
$50
First edition, 8vo, pp. [14], 11-80, [6]; fine copy in the dust jacket. From the library of Kim Merker.
This copy signed by Bell on the title page and additionally inscribed to Kim Merker on the half-title: "To Kim - Old friend with vision - with love - Marvin, August 1994 - Port City."
44. Things we dreamt we died for. Iowa City: Stone Wall Press, 1966.
$125
Edition limited to 270 copies, this one of an unstated number of "reviewer's proof" copies; 12mo, pp. 8vo, pp. 77, [3]; original light gray wrappers with a printed label on the upper cover noting author, title, publisher and price. From the library of Kim Merker.
No mention of this reviewer's proof in Berger, Printing & the Mind of Merker, who does note that "The title of the book and the titles of each section of the text are enclosed in double rules hand colored in yellow; the open initials that begin each poem are hand colored in gray ... I had my daughter, Megan, color all the initials by hand in gray."
45. Things we dreamt we died for. Iowa City: Stone Wall Press, 1966.
$75
Edition limited to 270 copies, 12mo, pp. 8vo, pp. 77, [3]; fine in original gray cloth, and without the publisher's slipcase which was apparently not with all copies. From the library of Kim Merker, with his initials in pencil on the front free endpaper, and the date "12-75."
Berger, Printing & the Mind of Merker, 20: "The title of the book and the titles of each section of the text are enclosed in double rules hand colored in yellow; the open initials that begin each poem are hand colored in gray ... I had my daughter, Megan, color all the initials by hand in gray."
46. Walking in the footsteps of the dead man ... Image by Lisa Schoenfielder. [La Crosse, Wisconsin]: Sutton Hoo Press, 2000.
$250
Edition limited to "about 100 copies printed from handset Lutetia and Romulus Open types by C. Mikal Oness in the spring of 2000. Lee Hemmersbach and Toni Vanderboom assisted" (colophon); square 4to, pp. [20]; fine in original brown cloth, printed paper label on spine. Signed by the poet Marvin Bell. From the library of Kim Merker whom Oness assisted at the Windhover Press at Iowa City.
Laid in is a broadside poem/prospectus for Charles Wright's North American Bear as printed by the Sutton Hoo Press.
Marvin Bell (b. 1937) is an American poet and teacher who was Poet Laureate of the State of Iowa. He taught for many years at the Iowa Writers' Workshop as the Flannery O'Connor Professor of Letters.
47. Standing upright. [N.p. Minneapolis / St. Paul?]: self-published, 2000.
$100
Square 12mo, approx. 5¼" x 5½", [40] leaves including 20 illustrations from photographs; printed from manuscript; fine in original stab-stitched pale green wrappers. From the library of Allan Kornblum, fine press printer, poet, and founder of the Coffee House Press.
The text concerns a cancer diagnosis. We can't find out too much on this book or Jennifer Bender, but it's well done and attractive. The edition size is likely quite small.
Not found in OCLC.
48. Poems, original and selected. Boston: printed for the author, 1847.
$65
First edition, 12mo, pp. 144; original brown moiré cloth lettered in gilt and ruled in blind on front cover; extremities rubbed and worn with spine ends chipped away and corners revealed; tear to spine cloth at approx. midway point; endpapers browned and negligible scattered foxing throughout; a good, sturdy copy.
Bennison (1789-1852) penned her verses to family and friends, admitting that they "were not originally written for publication" (Dedication).
49. Bearing weapons. Iowa City, Iowa: The Cummington Press, [1963].
$65
Edition limited to 250 copies printed by Harry Duncan (this, no. 15) from Cloister Old Style on Tovil; 8vo, pp. 69, [2]; original beige cloth, title in gilt on spine; fine copy. From the library of Kim Merker.
Richmond 72 noting that this was bound by the Board of Publications, Lutheran Church of America.
50. The queen's triangle. West Branch, Iowa: Cummington Press, 1970.
$50
Edition limited to 300 copies (this, no. 101), oblong 8vo, pp. 20, [2]; with a single full-page illustration from a colored drawing by William Kulik, text printed in double column; fine copy in original black cloth-backed paper-covered boards, plain white jacket worn at extremities with a few small chips. From the library of Kim Merker.
51. Thrymskvitha. Translated by Sidney Berger. Final version by Anselm Hollo & Sidney Berger. Iowa City: The Windhover Press / University of Iowa, 1970.
$50
Edition limited to 200 copies set into type and printed by Sid Berger after a design by Kim Merker; 8vo, pp. 16 frenchfold; Icelandic text and English translation on facing pages; fine in original terracotta wrappers, the title printed in black and red on front. From the library of Kim Merker.
Berger, Printing and the Mind of Merker, 43: "Only 175 copies were produced."
52. John's ghost. Iowa City: The Rhiannon Press, 1976.
$75
Edition limited to 15 copies, "printed on Gutenberg Laid paper with Bembo types. Many thanks to K. K. Merker whose assistance made this project possible," 8vo, pp. [8]; fine in original printed tan wrappers. From the library of Kim Merker.
Not found in OCLC.
53. Artifice of absorption. Philadelphia: Singing Horse Press, 1987.
$50
First edition, 4to, pp. [4], 6-71, [2]; original pictorial wrappers by Susan Bee; near fine.
Issued as vol. IV, no. 1 of Paper Air magazine.
54. Trial poems ... a facsimile edition of their prison art. Boston: Beacon Press, [1970].
$50
First edition, slim folio, pp. [30]; illustrated throughout; fine copy in original black cloth-backed printed boards, unclipped dust jacket faded along top edge and spine and with slight dampstain.
55. Summer sleeper. [Guilford, Connecticut]: Telephone Books, [1981].
$50
Edition limited to 300 copies, 26 of which were signed and lettered by the poet; 4to, 11" x 8½", [3], 3-38, [1] leaves printed from typescript on rectos only; title page printed in yellow; fine copy in original pictorial wrappers by Sophie Sutherland; side-stapled. From the library of Allan Kornblum, poet, fine press printer, and publisher who founded Coffee House Press.
56. Many happy returns. To Dick Gallup. San Francisco: Grabhorn-Hoyem, [1967].
$250
Edition limited to 200 copies printed for Angel Hair Magazine, Anne Waldman, Lewis Warsh, December 25, 1967, and 4 copies hors commerce lettered a, b, c, d and signed by the author. Bifolium, 9½" x 7. From the library of Allan Kornblum, poet, fine press printer, and publisher who founded Coffee House Press.
This copy signed by Berrigan, but not one of the hors commerce copies.
57. Reverdure. [Colorado Springs]: The Press at Colorado College, [1974].
$325
Edition limited to 100 copies signed by Berry (this, no. 48); oblong 4to, pp. [34]; fine in original printed brown wrappers. From the library of Kim Merker.
Designed, printed, and bound by Jim Trissel, with assistants.
58. Hamline poems: a new sheaf from the Bridgman Prize Poems 1932, 1933, 1934. Minneapolis: 1934.
$65
Edition limited to 200 copies, 8vo, pp. 82, [2]; fine in orig. blue cloth, gilt lettering on spine. Fifty-four poems by 16 poets, as judged by Louis Untermeyer, Arthur Guiterman and Witter Bynner, among others. The first cloth-bound book issued by the press. Press Preterite 23.
59. The integrated life. Essays, sketches, and poems. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1948.
$45
First edition, with mimeograph letter about the book from the publisher laid in; 8vo, pp. xii, 190; jacket with a few minor imperfections, else about fine.
This copy with a T.L.s. from the author to Emerson Wulling laid in, together with a form letter from the author with holograph additions, regarding a publication party and a publications fund for the press. Beyer was a professor of English at Hamline University.
60. Neckeverse. [Newcastle upon Tyne]: Galloping Dog Press, 1985.
$45
First edition, wrapper issue; 8vo, pp. [6], 66, [6]; fine copy in original printed wrappers.
This copy with a greeting card from the author laid in, dated British Columbia, 1989: "Dear Allan Kornblum, I waited for the dust to settle, then I called George Evans to make sure all is well with him ... He told me we can look forward to his from Coffee House, and I do ... I wonder if you'd send me a catalogue or a list of yopur authors and accept Neckeverse by way of introduction? Greetings and best wishes, Guy Birchard."
61. Lyrics. Chicago: The Bookfellows [printed at the Torch Press, Cedar Rapids, Iowa], 1920.
$125
Edition limited to 300 copies, small 8vo, pp. 62; original linen-backed brown boards, printed paper spine and cover labels, some shelf wear, spine a bit soiled, interior fine.
A quatraine from "The Upper Trail" (not published in this collection) "copied here" [front free endpaper] "by the author of this book for my friend, Miss Minna Mathison, this fifth day of January, nineteen twenty one," author signature both as Blanden and Blackburn. Mathison's Bookfellow bookplate, accomplished in manuscript, on front free endpaper.
62. By ear. New York: #Magazine, 1978.
$45
First edition limited to 300 copies, small 4to (8½" x 7"), pp. [16]; fine in original pictorial brown wrappers. From the library of Allan Kornblum, poet, fine press printer, and publisher who founded Coffee House Press.
Woodward A-17.
63. The good European and other poems. Cummington, Mass.: Cummington Press, 1947.
$125
First edition limited to 310 copies, (this no. 185) and one of 270 on Etruria paper; 8vo, pp. 39, [1]; original black cloth-backed paper-covered boards, printed paper label on spine; binding slightly stressed at p. [8-9], otherwise a near fine copy. From the library of Kim Merker.
Richmond 30.
64. The good European and other poems. Cummington, Mass.: Cummington Press, 1947.
$500
First edition limited to 310 copies, this one of 40 numbered in roman numerals (no. XXV) printed on Arches paper, and signed by the author; 8vo, pp. 39, [1]; original full brown buckram, leather labels lettered in gilt on upper cover and spine; fine copy. From the library of Kim Merker.
Richmond 30.
65. Autograph poem "The two enchantments," signed. N.p.: Jan., 1883.
$100
Two-page autograph poem on a 12mo bifolium, spine reinforced with small strip of linen, very good.
A 21-line poem in 3 stanzas first published in "The Century Magazine," January, 1883, and again in his "Selected Poems" (1901). In fact, the author has written "Century, Jan. 1883" below his signature.
66. Entrails...the magazine of happy obscenities and captured dragons. No. 2. New York: Whisper Shit Press, 1966.
$50
4to, pp. 86; illustrated; staple-bound in yellow pictorial wrappers; wear along edges and cover, stain along bottom fore-edge and lower cover; a few tears along the spine; very good.
Includes poems by Charles Bukowski, Clarence Major, Douglas Blazek and Harvy Tucker, among others. Also, a "prevue Fug song," "Street Fuck," by Tuli Kupferberg. Although not stated, this is from the library of Israel "Izzy" Young, former owner of the Folklore Center in Greenwich Village, New York.
67. The pepper shaker. [Iowa City]: privately printed [at the Prairie Press], 1964.
$50
Edition limited to 100 copies, 8vo, pp. 18, [1]; fine in orig. blue printed wrappers. The author's addressograph imprint is on the rear wrapper.
Cheever 142.
68. The Mark Gustafson Collection. 2500 items. A detailed list is available for institutional customers. .
$175,000
This is by far the finest collection in private hands, and it even surpasses that of the Bly archive at the University of Minnesota when it comes to printed material. Terms are available.
Robert Bly (1926-2021) the American poet, essayist, and translator, and a native of Minnesota graduated from Harvard in 1950 and spent two years at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop under the tutelage of Donald Justice and W. D. Snodgrass. Later, he traveled to Norway on a Fulbright grant where he translated Norwegian poets into English. His first book, Silence in the Snowy Fields, was published in 1962.
In 1966, Bly co-founded American Writers Against the Vietnam War and was among the leaders of the opposition to that war. He was the winner of the National Book Award for Poetry in 1968. He was the leader of the mythopoetic men's movement. His best-known prose book is Iron John: A Book About Men (1990), which spent 62 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. He published more than 40 collections of poetry, 10 works of non-fiction, has edited 8 anthologies of poetry; and published 17 translations of poetry and prose from such languages as Swedish, Norwegian, German, Spanish, Persian and Urdu. In February 2008, Bly was named Minnesota's first poet laureate. In February 2013, he was awarded the Robert Frost Medal, a lifetime achievement recognition given by the Poetry Society of America.
Mark Gustafson was a long-time friend of Robert Bly and has collected Bly material for nearly 60 years. He is the author of Born under the sign of Odin: the life and times of Robert Bly's little magazine & small press (Nodin Press, 2021); and, The Odin House harvest: an analytical bibliography of Robert Bly's Fifties, Sixties, Seventies, Eighties, Ninties, and Thousands Press (Red Dragonfly Press, 2012; revised 2015). He is currently working on a biography of Robert Bly.
Referencing Born under the sign of Odin, and anonymous author writes: "Long before Robert Bly became a cultural icon as a leading light of the Men's Movement, he was shaking up the world of poetry with a "little magazine," published from his farm in western Minnesota, that celebrated the deep imagery of European and South American poets while playfully mocking the often tepid and academic work of his American colleagues. This is the story of that literary revolution, the effects of which are with us to this day.
“Author Gustafson draws upon Bly's literary and personal correspondence, private papers, and the publications themselves to paint an indelible portrait of an artist driven by unusual ideas of expression rooted in earthiness, myth, open forms, and social conscience. Bly's iconoclastic tendencies bring plenty of spice to critical exchanges with James Dickey, Donald Hall, Denice Levertov, Tomas Tranströmer, Gary Snyder, and many other eminent poets at a time when the more formal and conservative aesthetic of the Pound/Eliot cadre and the hyper-technical analysis of the New Critics were proving themselves inadequate to the changing times. Using the issues of The Fifties and The Sixties as guideposts, Gustafson explores Bly's courageous stance against the Vietnam War, his principled response to receiving the National Book Award, the technical challenges of financing and printing a "little" magazine from the prairies of western Minnesota, and other adventures, with flashes of humor brightening many turns in the path” (unattributed quote from OCLC).
69. Tennessee Poetry Journal. Vol. 2, no. 2 Winter: 1969.
$100
Special issue devoted entirely to Bly, the whole edited by Stephen Mooney; 8vo, pp. 60; printed wrappers; very good.
Inscribed by Bly : "For Carl - some new prose poems in here. Affectionately Robert." Ownership signature of Carl Rakosi on upper wrapper.
70. The hockey poem. [Duluth]: Knife River Press, 1974.
$45
Edition limited to 500 copies, small 8vo, pp. [16]; woodcut by Ann Jenkins; fine in original blue printed wrappers. The first 50 were signed by Bly, but not this.
71. Visiting Emily Dickinson's grave and other poems. [New York: Red Ozier Press, 1979].
$125
Edition limited to 205 copies signed by Bly (this, no. 150); 8vo, pp. [20]; erratum slip laid in; prospectus laid in; printed in yellow, blue and black; illustrated title and half-title by Marta Anderson; original brown wrappers with blindstamped gray dust jacket. Fine copy. From the library of Allan Kornblum, poet, fine press printer, and publisher who founded Coffee House Press.
Peich 16.
72. A voyage to Cythera: a dramatic monologue. Charles Baudelaire reads and glosses seventeen poems. Omaha: Cummington Press, 1987.
$50
First edition limited to 250 copies, large 8vo, pp. 46, [2]; intaglio plate by Priscilla Steele, initialed by her in pencil; original maroon cloth, paper label on spine, fine. From the library of Kim Merker.
73. A final antidote: from the journals of Louis Bogan. Omaha: Cummington Press, 1991.
$75
Edition limited to 220 copies (this no. 10), 8vo, pp. 56; numbered and signed color etching by Priscilla Steele; full cloth over boards, paper spine label, blue paper dust jacket with cutout in spine for spine label, fine. From the library of Kim Merker.
The text originally appeared in the New Yorker as "From the Journals of a Poet."
74. First poems. Iowa City, Iowa: Lanandra Press, 1975.
$75
Edition limited to 25 copies designed, set and printed by Robin Brennan, "celebrating the poet's twenty fifth year of fatherhood," 4to, pp. [40]; printed on rectos only; original unadorned red cloth; fine copy. From the library of Kim Merker.
This copy signed by the poet on the title page, dated 1975.
Not found in OCLC.
75. [Newport.] Fitz Poodle at Newport; an incident of the season. Cambridge: printed at the Riverside Press, 1869.
$50
12mo, pp. 55, [1]; pages ruled in red throughout; frontispiece and 3 wood-engravings in the text (1 full--page); original brown cloth stamped in gilt on upper cover; small hole in front free endpaper, 2 small pressure stamps on first and last pages of text, spine sunned and spine ends chipped, else very good.
Bookplate of Roderick Terry.
A satire in verse on the social-register crowd summering in Newport. Brewerton was born in Newport and raised throughout the Northeast as the family followed his father who was a Brigadier General and who, from 1845 to 1852, was superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He became best known as a painter of western landscapes.
76. Poem by Lyman D. Brewster and the valedictory oration by Adolphe Bailey pronounced before the senior class in Yale College June 13, 1855. New Haven: published by the class, T. J. Stanford, printer, 1855.
$75
First edition, 8vo, pp. 46, [2]; original printed wrappers, near fine. The Oration has the title "American Civilization." At the back is a "Parting Ode" by Calvin G. Child of New York City.
Sabin 7782.
77. Song to the mountain: selected poems. [New York ?: Fredrika Brillembourg, 1995].
$250
Edition limited to 750 copies, 8vo, pp. 89, [7]; 2 tipped-in color photographs; full green cloth over boards, spine and front cover stamped in silver; fine.
Designed by Leslie Miller and Linda Josefowicz. A graduate of Harvard where he studied under Seamus Heaney, Brillembourg died in a rock climbing accident in 1993, and this book of his poetry was published posthumously in his honor.
78. Aquidneck; a poem. Pronounced on the hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the Redwood Library Company, Newport, R.I. August XXIV, MDCCCXLVII. With other commemorative pieces. Providence: Charles Burnett, Jr., 1848.
$225
First edition, small 8vo, pp. iv, [3], 8-63, [1]; original tan printed wrappers; back wrap loosening, but otherwise very good and sound.
Aquidneck is the largest island in Narragansett Bay on which Portsmouth, Middletown, and Newport at the south end. The Redwood Library was founded in 1747 as a private subscription library and still occupies its original building, now a National Landmark, designed in the Palladian style by Peter Harrison in 1750.
Brooks was pastor of the Universal Congregation Church in Newport from 1837-1871. He published several collections of verse but is best known as a translator of Schiller, Goethe and other German authors.
BAL 1368; Bartlett, p. 44; Hammett, p. 27; Sabin 78341.
79. In the iron temple. Poems. Iowa City: The Prairie Press, [1964].
$100
First edition, 8vo, pp. [6], 9-63, [1]; title page printed in red, blue, and black; fine copy in original maroon cloth-backed decorative paper-covered boards, fine dust jacket. From the library of Kim Merker.
This, a review copy, with a typed letter signed from Carroll Coleman to the editor of The Littleton Independent, Littleton, Colorado, Houstoun Waring, asking for a review and remembering a lecture by Waring Coleman once heard at the University of Iowa. Also, with a printed review slip printed in red from the Prairie Press, as well as the original prospectus for this book by the Colorado poet.
Cheever 137.
80. Panthers. [Minneapolis]: Indulgence Press, 2007.
$300
Edition limited to 151 copies (this, no. 24) printed, illustrated and bound by Chip Schilling, this is one of the 121 "standard" copies (there are also 26 "deluxe" copies); signed by Browne and Schilling; oblong 12mo, pp. narrow folio in sixes; pp. [4], 53, [2]; title page printed in gray, 4 cyanotype photographic illustrations; fine throughout in original gray and silver cloth, silver lettering on spine, gray cloth slipcase.
81. Ephemeron, a poem. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1855.
$100
First edition, 12mo, pp. 58; odd dampstains (?) or foxing (?), mostly towards the back; all else fine in original glazed white paper wrappers lettered in gilt.
Brownell was born in Providence in 1820 and is primarily known for his poetry during the Civil War. This is his second book.
Not in Bartlett. BAL 1572.
82. The perilous merits of love, guilt & death [wrapper title]. [N.p.: publisher not identified, n.d.]
$45
First edition, 4to, 11" x 8½", pp. [22]; original printed wrappers, side-stapled and backed with blue binding tape, as issued; top corner a little curled, else near fine. From the library of Allan Kornblum, poet, fine press printer, and publisher who founded Coffee House Press.
She's all over the internet as the CEO and co-founder of MeQuilibrium, but no record of this relative early publication.
Not found in OCLC.
83. Hue and cry. Muscatine, Iowa: The Prairie Press, 1941.
$45
First edition limited to 250 copies, 8vo, pp. [28]; title-p. printed in blue, red and black, text in red and black; upper edge of covers faded, else very good in orig. orange paper wraps. A very pleasing chapbook.
Cheever 40.
84. Hue and cry. Muscatine, Iowa: The Prairie Press, 1941.
$150
First edition limited to 250 copies, 8vo, pp. [28]; title page printed in blue, red and black, text in red and black; fine in original printed orange wrappers. From the library of Kim Merker.
This copy inscribed on the colophon: "For John Kemmerer with every good wish, Carroll Coleman, 13 February 1974." Laid in a 1-page typed letter signed by Coleman on personalized stationery, to Mr. Kemmerer written a day earlier regarding Coleman's mother's estate, and enclosing this copy of Hue and Cry for Mr. Kemmerer's collection. With a 4-line holograph postscript regarding his mother's attic "It was fourteen feet from floor to roof peaks."
Cheever 40.
85. Last parade. Muscatine, Iowa: The Prairie Press, 1938.
$75
Edition limited to 390 copies, 8vo, pp. [8], 11-45, [1]; title page printed in blue and black; original blue cloth with printed label on upper cover, dust jacket with very small break at the top of the spine; all else fine. From the library of Kim Merker.
Cheever 22.
86. Poems ... collected and arranged by the author. New York: D. Appleton, 1875.
$225
Square 12mo, pp. 390, [2] (blank); engraved portrait frontispiece and wood-engraved plates throughout; full pebbled-grain brown morocco, rebacked with red leather label on spine, gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, a.e.g.; boards rubbed, some tick marks in table of contents, very good.
Signed and dated by Bryant, New York, February 28th, 1877 and with a verse couplet in Bryant's hand.
BAL 1848.
87. Poems ... with biographical sketch by Nathan Haskell Dole. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., n.d., .
$125
8vo, pp. [4], li, [1], 3-384; inserted portrait frontispiece and title page printed in red and black; original puffy faux reptile skin lettered in gilt on spine and upper cover; publisher's wood-grained cardboard box with lid; box a little rubbed, else fine.
This edition was first published in 1893 but this is clearly a later issue, bearing a graduation inscription dated 1902 on the flyleaf, and an interesting publisher’s binding. Not found in BAL.
88. Five small meditations on summer and birds.. Saint Paul: Bieler Press, 1984.
$45
Edition limited to 200 copies (this, no. 49) designed by Gerald Lange of the Bieler Press and printed by Emily Mason, 16mo, pp. [16]; covers of handmade papier a inclusions florales; fine copy.
Smith, Bieler, 35.
89. Sparrows. [West Chester, Pennsylvania: Michael Peich, 1988].
$50
Small bifolium approx. 5¾" x 4", printed in red and black. Fine. From the library of Kim Merker.
"There are 150 copies of this keepsake printed in honor of the English Department Banquet, 15 April 1988. The type is Spectrum, the printer is Michael Peich and the place is West Chester, Pennsylvania."
This copy inscribed "For Kim / Christopher Buckley."
90. Still light: twelve poems from paintings. [Columbia, Missouri]: Sutton Hoo Press, n.d., [1996?].
$125
Edition limited to 10 only (this, no. 6) signed by both the poet and the printer; 4to, pp. [22]; the first leaf is a half sheet; fine copy in original embossed gray paper wrappers. From the library of Kim Merker.
While there is no limitation, per se, given in the colophon, there is the annotation in ink noting "6 of 10." The OCLC record locates 28 copies so clearly there is another more common issue.
91. Poem by George Wolf Buehler and the valedictory oration by Phineas Wolcott Calkins pronounced before the senior class in Yale College June 18. 1856. New Haven: Thomas H. Pease, College Book-store, 83 Chapel Street, 1856.
$75
8vo, pp. 31, [1]; original printed wrappers; spine worn, very good. The title of the oration is "The man for the times." A parting ode by Theron Brown of Westford, Connecticut takes the final page. AAS only in OCLC.
92. Nebraska: a poem, personal and political. Boston: published by John P. Jewett and Company. Cleveland, Ohio: Jewett, Proctor, and Worthington, 1854.
$100
12mo, pp. 24; wrappers wanting; very good. Long narrative poem, being the author’s contribution to the burning political question of the day, the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Also attributed to Samuel R. Phillips.
Afro-Americana 1795; Sabin 52196.
93. A book of Dakota rhymes. Collected and arranged by.... Yankton, SD: Yankton Printing Co., 1907.
$45
Third edition (first published Chicago, 1898), 12mo, pp. [12], 140, [1]; original blue cloth lettered and stamped in black on spine and front cover; extremities a little worn and the spine minimally faded; a very good copy.
This edition incorporates "considerable new material by writers not before represented" (Preface, p. [12]).
94. Our country; its dangers and its destiny: a desultory poem, pronounced before the Allegheny Literary Society at its semi-annual celebration, September 2, 1841. Allegheny: Allegheny Literary Society, 1841.
$100
First edition, 12mo, pp. 43, [1]; original brown cloth gilt-stamped on upper cover; small chip in spine; very good, sound, and clean.
The author's first or second book (see Foley). In 1833, Burleigh assisted his brother in editing the Unionist, a paper founded to support Prudence Crandall's colored school, in which he also taught. Inscribed in pencil from Lucian Burleigh to E. H. Squier
95. Memorial Day and other poems. Boston: Copeland and Day, 1897.
$125
First edition, thin 12mo, pp. [8], 73, 2; light wear at spine extremities else a fine copy in orig. embossed brown cloth, gilt lettering on upper cover and spine.
Kraus 76.
96. Rocky Ledge 8. Cherry Valley, New York: June-July, 1981.
$100
4to, pp. 76; printed from typescript; cover drawing by Jane Freilicher; original pictorial wrappers, side-stapled; slight dampstain at the top outer corners throughout; all else near fine. Contributions by Anne Waldman, Ed Dorn, Larry Fagin, Anselm Hollo, and many others.
97. Lyra and other poems. Clinton Hall, NY: Redfield, 1852.
$85
First edition, 8vo, pp. 172, [6], plus [14]-page publisher's catalogue; publisher's device on title page; original brown cloth with covers stamped in blind, and spine stamped and lettered in gilt; the spine and small adjacent areas of covers faded, the extremities a bit worn with spine ends beginning to fray, light scattered foxing throughout; a very good copy.
Alice Carey (1820-1871) was an Ohio writer and abolitionist whose literary works in periodicals drew favorable attention from the likes of Poe and Whittier. This, Carey's third book, is also her first solo book of poetry; she had previously published Poems jointly with her sister, Phoebe.
BAL 2805.
98. Chrononhotonthologos: The most tragical tragedy, that ever was tragediz'd by any company of tragedians. Presented by Ron Padgett and Johnny Stanton. [New York]: Adventures in Poetry, [1971].
$45
First edition limited to 250 copies, 4to, [22] leaves printed from typescript on rectos only; original printed front wrapper, back wrapper unadorned; side-stapled; near fine.
"A mock epic 18th century in verse."
99. The lily of St. Mark's. [Guilford, Connecticut]: A "C" Press Publication, [1978].
$150
Edition limited to 250 copies, 4to, 11" x 8½", [31] leaves printed from typescript on rectos only; frontispiece portrait and covers by George Schneeman; lightly toned, else near fine copy in original pictorial wrappers, side-stapled.
From the library of Allan Kornblum, poet, fine press printer, and publisher who founded Coffee House Press. Carey, the son of the actor Harry Carey, died young at the age of 43 in 1989. The Lily of St. Mark's was published by Ted Berrigan's "C Press."
100. Songs from Vagabondia ... Designs by Tom B. Meteyard. Boston: Copeland and Day, 1895.
$125
Third edition (the first appeared in 1894) limited to 750 copies, 12mo, pp. [8], 54, [3]; pictorial printed endpapers and printer's device on title page; original drab pictorial paper-covered boards lettered in black on front cover and spine, some wear to extremities, joints rubbed, and spine ends chipped; scattered light foxing; a good or better copy.
Signed by Carman and inscribed by Hovey on the half-title. From the library of G. Hilton Scribner (1831-1910), a Yonkers lawyer and businessman who served a stint as New York Secretary of State.