Bishop, Elizabeth, Collected Poems, 1927-1979 (Farrar Straus Giroux, 1st ed. 3rd printing, paperback, 1984) LOC 82-2119. Poet Laureate of the United States, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner, Bishop’s stature has only grown since her death at in 1979. She spent enormous effort and time over her poems, and this volume shows her growth and maturity. Paperback, very good condition. 284 pp, 9.5” x 6”. Rare. HBB price: $50.
Blyth, R.H., Zen In English Literature and Oriental Classics (Tokyo: The Hokuseido Press, 1st ed., 1942). A vegetarian and World War I conscientious objector imprisoned for his beliefs, Reginald Howard Blyth (1898-1964) emigrated to Korea as a college professor of English in 1925. He studied zen, learned Chinese and Japanese, and, after divorcing his English wife and marrying a Japanese one, moved to Japan in 1936. There he taught, and wrote a series of books on zen and haiku. Though interned by the Japanese for the war, Blyth emerged as liaison between the Imperial Household and General MacArthur’s occupation staff, and became tutor to the current emperor, Akihito. Blyth had a major influence on Western thought about zen and haiku, especially among the Beat writers of the 1950s. Zen in English Literature and Oriental Classics was his most popular book; in this wartime, English-language version it is quite rare, and rarer still with a very good dust jacket as HBB’s copy sports. Hardcover, unclipped
dust jacket, very good condition. 5.25” x 7.25”. HBB price: $175.
Clements, A.C. , The Mystical Poetry of Thomas Traherne (Harvard, 1st. ed., 1969) ISBN 674-59750-8. HBB price: $25. A reconsideration of the mystical English poet (c. 1636-1674).
SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES : Inscribed and signed by the author to a colleague, Prof. Glenn Burne. Academic hardcover published for the trade; contains a Preface, an introduction, notes and an index; [xii] + 232 pages; approximately 5 1/2" x 8 1/4"; pale yellow cloth covered boards with title lettered in green on the spine; printed dust-jacket.
CONDITION :
Exterior — clean and presentable ... exceptionally well-preserved
Binding — Solid
Interior — Clean and unmarked throughout. Signed inscription from the author on the front fly-leaf : "To Glenn, with the hope that in reading this book you may find much of the pleasure that I did in writing it. Art." Burne was a highly respected scholar and professor. He retired as chair of the English Department of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
The Dust-Jacket has modest surface rub and a bit of nicking and tears about the edges. the spine panel extremities have soft impact abrasion and creasing and the spine panel itself is a bit darkened - the reverse of the jacket is toned - basically clean and presentable. The whole looks nice under an archival mylar cover.
Ehrmann, Max, The Desiderata of Happiness: A Collection of Philosophical Poems (Crown Publishers, 1st ed., 7th printing, 1995). ISBN 0-517-70184-7. 37 poems by the lawyer and family meat packing and overalls company business executive (1872-1945) whose name soared to fame after the coincidental rediscovery of his 1927 prose poem, “Desiderata.” Through the 1960s and 70s it became a pop culture icon: Joan Crawford recited it; Leonard Nimoy recorded it. The elegant selection from his collected works (1948) gives a broader appreciation of the Indiana poet’s skills. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $35.
Eliot, T.S. , Collected Poems 1909-1935 (Harcourt Brace & Co., 1936). Poetry was a young man’s game for Eliot; this volume sums up his life’s work. Hardcover, no dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $100.
Frost, Robert, In the Clearing (Holt Rinehart & Winston, 1st ed., 1962) LOC 62-11578. Frost’s last collection, with the poem he read at President Kennedy’s inaugural added. Hardcover, dust jacket worn about the edges, good condition otherwise. Octavo, 101 pp. HBB price: $20.
Kazantzakis, Nikos, The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (Simon and Schuster, 1st ed. 2nd printing, 1958). LOC 59-9048. Given the then-virtually- nonexistent international market for Greek publishing, Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957), best known today as author of Zorba the Greek) was endlessly occupied with writing projects to keep a roof over his head and support his near-constant urge to travel. In 1926 he undertook a massive sequel to The Odyssey, picking up in the modern era where the original epic left off. Divided into 24 books (one for each letter of the Greek alphabet), Odyssey 2 is 33,333 lines long; this Random House edition, translated to English, in collaboration with Kazantzakis by Kimon Friar, runs to 825 pages. Illustrations by Ghika. 6.5” x 10.5”. Hardcover, black cloth with fine gilt letter. Dust jacket is complete but worn about the top edges and subject to a little fading on the back. Kazantzakis is said to have lost the Nobel Prize for Literature to Camus and died before his international reputation was established by Zorba. Fascinated by religion, he was banned by the Greek Orthodox Church; the 1988 film of his book, The Last Temptation of Christ, ignited new controversy. A towering literary achievement and a must for Hellenophiles. HBB price: $35.
March, Joseph Moncure, The Wild Party (Pantheon, 1st ed., 1st printing, 1994). ISBN 0-679-42450-4. Woodcut illustrations by Art Spiegelman. Elegant reissue of the Jazz Age classic, first published in 1928. Spiegelman’s woodcuts are of the period. 8.75” x 5.5”, hardcover, unclipped dust jacket. Very good condition. HBB price: $39.95
McKuen, Rod, ...and Autumn Came (Cheval Books, 1st ed., limited edition, signed and numbered by the author, November, 1969). LOC 72-105891. Very fine limited edition of McKuen’s first, 1954, collection of poetry. Folio size, linen boards on fine paper; gilt title plate on cover. Illustrations by Anthony Goldschmidt. Copy number B-601. McKuen (1933-2015) was one of the most popular mid-20th century American poets and songwriters. HBB price: $95.
Meynell, Alice, The Poems of Alice Meynell: The Complete Edition (Scribners, 1st ed., 1923). Suffragist and editor, Alice Meynell (1847-1922) was also a highly skilled poet. This is the first American collection of her complete works. Hardcover, no dust
jacket. Very good condition. HBB price: $15.
Milton, John, Paradise Lost (Easton Press, The 100 Best Books Ever Written Collector’s Edition, 1st. ed., 1976). Leather bound w/22k gold accents. Attractive moire end pages with silk ribbon page marker. Smyth sewn with concealed muslin joints. Full leather with hubbed spine. Gilt edges. Fine condition. HBB price: $200.
Nesbit, E., and Mack, Robert Ellice, Morning Songs and Sketches (E.P. Dutton & Co. 1890). Elegant octavo volume; 32 pages of poetry and illustrations in both color and black-and-white. Printed in Heidelberg. Gilt edging. Very good condition. HBB price: $225.
Pinsky, Robert, The Figured Wheel: New & Collected Poems 1966-1996 (Farrar Straus Giroux 1996, 1st ed.) ISBN 0-374-15493-7. Former US poet laureate’s collected works. Inscribed on the title page. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition, autographed. HBB price: $60.
Reid, Christopher, ed., Letters of Ted Hughes, (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1st American ed., 1st printing, 2007). ISBN 13: 978-0-374-18530-5. Fifty years of correspondence by the husband of Sylvia Plath and poet laureate of Great Britain. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $25.
Rieke, Robert, An Azure Sunset (Charlotte, NC: Providence Press, limited ed., #109 0f 200- printed and signed in pencil by Rieke on the colophon- 1994. A four-part collection of Rieke’s poetry, collected for the first time. 24 poems plus a short biographical sketch. Printed in letterpress at Heritage Press and “published on the winter solstice of 1994.” Rieke (1923- 2013) taught European History at Emory and The Citadel before joining the faculty of UNC-Charlotte as history department chair; he also wrote a history of the college, A Retrospective Vision. Quarto, 7.25” x 10”. Brilliant
blue boards; no dust jacket. As-new condition. 35 pp. inscribed to Charlotte NC arts
Service, Robert, Bar-Room Ballads: A Book of Verse (Dodd, Mead & Co, 1st ed., 3rd printing 1946). “The Bard of the Yukon,” Robert Service (1874-1958) won fame and fortune for his poems and stories enshrining life in the mining camps and gold rush towns of the Klondike era in western Canada. “The Shooting of Dan McGrew” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee” are his most popular works. At 39 he retired and moved to Paris; he lived in France, except for a WW2 stay in California, for the rest of his life. A prolific poet and novelist, he produced dozens of works and was at work pretty much until he died. Hardcover, no dust jacket, good condition. HBB price: $25.
Skelding, Susie Barstow, Flowers From Hill and Dale (White Stokes & Allen, 1883; 1890 edition by Frederick A Stokes Company). Verses by prominent 19th century poets. Color chromolithographs of flowers illustrated by the author, with laid-in tissue guards. Skelding (1857-1934) was an American artist whose best-remembered works are the Flower Songs series, of which this volume is part. Publisher Frederick Stokes was part of White Stokes & Allen until he set up his own shop in 1890. Hardcover; olive green cloth with decorative illustrated boards. Gilt edges. 132 pp. 8” x 9”, ex-owner penned notation in longhand on front endpaper, “Christmas 1890.” No dust
jacket as issued. Slight separation at the hinges, otherwise very good. HBB price: $150.
Tasso, Torquato, Le Gerusalemme Liberata (with the observations of Niccolo Cianculo and Scipio Gentili; Nimes: Michele Gaude, 1764). Interesting and rare volume containing marginalia by one C. Thiemann, including a diagram of the Ptolemaic system and a note that he read the book in the year 1805 in the endpapers. Tasso (1544-95) was one of the most-read poets in Europe until the last century. This book is one of a broken set of his best-known work, a highly imaginative account of the combat between Muslims and Christians at the culmination of the First Crusade. Leather bound, 6.25” x.
4.25”. Worn but solid condition. HBB price: $350.
Wingard, E.A., Echoes and Other Poems (Newberry, SC: Lutheran Publication Board, 1899). Wingard (1849-1900) was ordained in the Lutheran Church in 1875 and called to St. Paul’s in Columbia, SC in 1887. He served in that pulpit until his death; this book was published the year before he passed away. 170 pp of poetry covering a variety of subjects, ranging from war to memoria, religious poems and hymns and a miscellany that includes his Ode on Laying the Corner-Stone Y.M.C.A. Building, Columbia, S.C. Hardcover, red boards, no dust jacket. Very good condition. HBB price: $25.
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