Poetry from Johnson Rare Books & Archives

San Francisco: Mendicant Editions, 1960. First Edition. Wraps. Good. Hand set by the poet and printed in a limited edition of fifty copies." Inscribed by William Margolis opposite the title page. An early collection by the revered California poet who cofounded the journal Beatitude with John Kelly and Bob Kaufman in 1958. Octavo: [30] p. Original printed red… Read more about this item

London: Bernard Quaritch, 1879. Hardcover. Very good. The fourth edition of Fitzgerald's translation of the Rubaiyat, the last to be published in his lifetime. Octavo: xv, 112 p. In the publisher's one-quarter morocco over plum cloth binding with gilt stamping. A bit of rubbing to the leather and at the corners; otherwise very good. intriguingly, this copy… Read more about this item

London: Martin Secker, 1920. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. An early collection of poems that delve into the complexities of nature, love, and war, showcasing Graves' unique blend of traditional poetic forms with innovative themes. Small octavo: 81 p. Original patterned cloth binding, with a printed paper spine label. Just a hint of foxing to the contents,… Read more about this item

London: British Museum Publications Ltd, 1977. Limited edition of 17 wood engravings originally commissioned for Thornton's Virgil (1821), printed by Iain Bain and David Chambers from Blake's original blocks in the British Museum. This is number 98 of 135 sets intended for sale from a total edition of 150. 17 wood engravings (each approximately 75 x 35 mm) on… Read more about this item

London: Pickering, 1850. Hardcover. Herbert (1593-1633) was an English religious poet, a major metaphysical poet, notable for the purity and effectiveness of his choice of words. 12mo: x, [2], 353 p. + xxiii, [1], 350 p. with frontispiece portraits. In elegant polished green calf bindings by J. Zaehnsdorf, with red morocco spine labels, decorative gilt stamping, five raised bands,… Read more about this item

London: George Bell and Sons, 1901. Hardcover. Very good. The Aldine Edition of British Poets. 12mo, two volumes: clxxxvi, 212 p. + xiii, 409 p. with frontispiece portraits. In elegant one-half burgundy morocco over decorative paper bindings by James MacDonald (New York), with Art Nouveau designs stamped in gilt, five raised bands, and matching endpapers. Period previous owner's… Read more about this item

Eton: E.P. Williams, 1853. Fourth Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Gray (1716-71) was an English poet whose "An Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard" is one of the best known of English lyric poems. Although his literary output was slight, he was the dominant poetic figure in the mid-18th century and a precursor of the Romantic movement. Octavo:… Read more about this item

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania: J.R. Kerr & Bro., Publishers, 1923. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. Inscribed by Archibald Rutledge on the front flyleaf, with a period leaflet on the author's life and career laid in. Sixth collection of verse by the first poet laureate of South Carolina. Rutledge (1883-1973) wrote over 50 books, most concerning his hunting and life experiences in… Read more about this item

London: The Marchim Press Ltd, 1973. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. This is copy number 186 of 225. A fitting monument to this important modernist's work, impressive for editorial diligence and a visual presentation that is in keeping with Cummings' own blend of classical and avant-garde energies, formal and intimate moods. Quarto: xxiii, 741 p. Original three-quarter green calf… Read more about this item

London: Ellis and Elvey, 1900. Hardcover. Sumptuously bound collection of verse by the leading light in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. An inspired but provocative nonconformist, it would be difficult to imagine later 19th century Victorian poetry and art without Rossetti's influence. His writings can perhaps best be viewed as an unusually acute expression of Victorian social uncertainty and loss of… Read more about this item

Washington, D.C., 1872. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Printed by Samuel W. Green of New York in an edition of 572 copies, about 300 of which were bound. A collection of seven new poems, and the significant "Preface" in which Whitman (1819-92) envisions this volume as the first installment of a new collection of an "aggregated, inseparable, unprecedented,… Read more about this item

Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania and Claremont, California: Lawson-Roberts Publishing Company, 1932. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Inscribed by Robert W. O'Brien to Hugh Vernon White, Executive Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, on the front flyleaf, above White's bookplate. An anthology of poetry written by undergraduates and recent graduates of the historically black colleges, with… Read more about this item

Printed for Private Circulation, 1881. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Inscribed by the author on the half-title. Octavo: 76 p. Full burgundy cloth binding, with the original wrappers bound in. The signature of Scottish scholar William Macmath appears on the verso of the front flyleaf. A bit of wear to the corners and tips; else very good. … Read more about this item

London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1899. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. A collection of love elegies dedicated to the Latin poet's muse, the eponymous Cynthia. Octavo: xiii, 108 p. Original white cloth binding, with gilt titles. Holographic errata to the half-title. Mild toning along the extremities of the boards; otherwise very good.

New Haven: Liveright, 1977. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Near fine. Review copy, with the publisher's slip and a photograph of the author laid in. An "autobiographical progression in prose and verse" by the daughter of revered modernist poet E.E. Cummings. Includes eight unpublished E.E. Cummings poems discovered by the author as she was completing the manuscript of this book,… Read more about this item

London: Bell and Dalby, 1858. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. The author's first major published work, which was largely self-funded by Morris (1834-96) who dedicated the work to his friend, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The poems that make up the collection, many of which are dramatic monologues, fall into three groups. The first group consists of four poems of… Read more about this item

New York: The Ecco Press, 1979. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/Near fine. Presentation copy, inscribed by Robert Hass to poet and editor Douglas Blazek on the half-title. "Longing, we say, because desire is full of endless distances." In this, his second collection of verse, Hass (b.1941) eloquently examines the use of language. The recipient of a National Book… Read more about this item

Paris: Maurice Magnier, Editeur, 1888. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Appropriately enough, Ponsard (1826-94) was associated with the literary circle that met at Le Chat Noir, the Paris cafe founded by Rodolphe Salis. Illustrations by Leon Lebegue, with etchings by Guenier. 12mo. Original light brown cloth binding, with an elaborate celestial scene stamped in silver on the front.… Read more about this item

Beverly Hills, California: Krown & Spellman, 1995. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. Presentation copy, inscribed by Paul Naiditch on the front flyleaf. Naiditch was the longtime curator of Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts at the University of California, Los Angeles. Original blue cloth bindings, with gilt titles. Issued without a dust jacket. A fine copy.

Paris: Christian Bourgois Editeur, 1970. Wraps. Very good. Signed by Lawrence Ferlinghetti on the front flyleaf. Bilingual edition of Pictures of the Gone World (1955), with the original English opposite the French translation. Small octavo: 222 p. Original printed paper wrappers, with the original glassine overlay. Some mild toning along the extremities; else very good or better. … Read more about this item