LOVER OF ROBER GRAVES ATTEMPTED SUICIDE IN 1927 SAID SHE WOULD NEVER WRITE ANOTHER POEM

A POEM : HOW A POEM CAME TO BE. A Lovely BROADSIDE POEM by LAURA RIDING JACKSON.

SIGNED by LAURA RIDING JACKSON at the end of her poem, beneath her printed name.

Published by [Lord John Press, 1980]. Presentation Copy - Presentation Copies are normally printed prior to numbered copies, making them quite hard to find. Subsequently printed in a limited edition of only 150 numbered copies.

Broadside, printed on fine heavy stock paper, deckled top and bottom edges, 15x22 inches.

NEAR FINE condition, a bright and beautiful copy. Would look great mounted and/or framed.

From the Broadside: "Within a very few years of the publication of my Collected Poems (1938)... I renounced further trying the way of poetry... saying: I would write no more poems - and I wrote no more poems... (however) I wrote for (a close friend), in the 1978 Christmastime, a poem, marked as a poem for him only, giving it the title HOW A POEM CAME TO BE. I kept no copy of this privately written and given poem, and forgot the writing and the giving of it... I chanced, recently, to tell my friend of receiving a request for a poem to publish in broadside form from the Lord John Press, indicating my feeling some surprise that Mr. Yellin, the Press's director, should not have been aware that FOR FORTY YEARS there had been NO NEW POEMS of mine. But my friend reminded me that about a year ago there HAD been a new poem - the one I wrote for him; and he urged me to let him release it to me from its private status of being a poem for him only... I give here the poem, given him, to be out in the world..."

LAURA RIDING JACKSON, 1901-1991, was an iconoclastic American Poet. She left New England at the age of 25 to live with ROBERT GRAVES and his wife, Nancy Nicholson. The triangle did not suit her, and Laura Riding tried to commit suicide in 1927. Thereafter Robert Graves divorced his wife and lived together with Laura Riding in Majorca, France, England and Switzerland, and even went with her when she returned to the United States. They bitterly broke up in 1939. In 1941 Laura Riding Jackson renounced poetry, married Schuyler B. Jackson, and lived quietly with him in Wabasso, Florida, until her death in 1991. In the 60s, 70s and 80s she wrote a number of pieces explaining her reasons for renouncing poetry, but no poetry. This is apparently THE ONLY POEM written by Laura Riding Jackson since 1941.

You can read much more about LAURA RIDING on Wikipedia and elsewhere on the Internet.

This Large and Lovely BROADSIDE will be shipped carefully rolled in a sturdy mailing tube.

ALL THE CONSPIRATORS, by Christopher ISHERWOOD.

LONDON: Jonathan Cape, 1928. First Edition (first printing), of the author's First Book.

Hardcovers, cloth covered boards, 5.5x7.5 inches (13x19 cm), 255 pages.

Reportedly signed by and from the library of LADY VIOLET POWEL, wife of ANTHONY POWELL. ALL OF WHICH IS PROBABLY UNTRUE. The book was acquired from a well-known Northern California based book auction house. The lot title was "From the library of Lady Violet Powell" and the lot description was; "From the library of Lady Violet Powell, with her signature on the front free endpaper. Lady Powell was the wife of writer Anthony Powell, author of A Dance to the Music of Time. She was a friend of Isherwood's and generally taken to be the model for the character of Isobel Tolland in her husband's novel sequence." Handwritten in the book in pencil beside "her" signature is the auction house cataloguer's pencil note: "Lady Powell / wife of Anthony Powell"

HOWEVER, THIS IS LIKELY NOT HER SIGNATURE OR HER BOOK. The book is signed "VIOLA POWELL / 1930". Note the following: Violet Powell married Anthony Powell in 1934 (i.e. 4 years after the book was signed Viola Powell.) All indications are that Lady Violet Powell only used the name Violet during her life. Comparisons of Lady Violet Powell's signature with this signature show distinct differences. So, speaking personally, buyer beware, and don't wait years to fully research your purchases! Again, THIS IS LIKELY NOT THE SIGNATURE OF VIOLET POWELL. But I share this with you so that you might do your own research, could be the auctioneer and cataloguer were right.

Condition: The cover's cloth is soiled, splitting at the spine folds and spine ends, and the spine lettering has almost completely disappeared; nonetheless the covers are still doing their job. Internally nice, small initials are written in a corner of the front and rear pastedown, a signature and associated note on the front free-endpaper as discussed above, and a small circular ink stamp is also on the front flyleaf, there is a bit of spotting to a few pages, otherwise the inner pages are tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked.

This FIRST EDITION is SCARCE, made more or less so with the signature of a Viola Powell.

'BOUT CULLUD FOLKSES, POEMS by LUCY MAE TURNER, Black Female Harlem Renaissance Vernacular Poet.

NEW YORK: Henry Harrison, [1938]. First edition of her first and only book.

Hardcovers, yellow cloth covered boards titled in black on the front cover and spine, 5.5x8.5 inches, 64 pages. In its original dustjacket.

Condition: GOOD book, the covers are lightly soiled otherwise solid and sharp-cornered; internally the pages are lightly toned, else tight, bright, clean and unmarked; in a FAIR dustjacket that is chipped at the margins and spine ends (including missing a 2 inch piece from the bottom of the spine), toned at the spine, and has other signs of general wear; nonetheless this delicate dustjacket is still holding together and retains its $1.50 price at the top of the front flap. A presentable copy with its rare dustjacket.

About LUCY MAE TURNER (from Shadowed Dreams: Women's Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance, edited by Maureen Honey, Rutgers University 2006):

******Lucy Mae Turner, b.1865 d.1963, was the granddaughter of Nat Turner, who led the most famous slave revolt in American history in 1831, She was a highly educated and talented poet whose single volume of verse, 'Bout Cullud Folkses (1938), deserves greater attention. Like Zora Neale Hurston, Turner excelled at literary rendering of the working class black vernacular. Going against the tide of literary history, both Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) and Turner's 1938 collection are among the last examples of black dialect to be produced by African American writers. Richard Wright, Ann Petry, James Baldwin, Margaret Walker, Ralph Ellison, and other black writers who came to the fore in the 1940s and 1950s created northern urban characters and eschewed dialect as an inappropriate throwback to plantation stereotypes. Poet Gwendolyn Brooks would continue to work in the vernacular, but it was a northern urban slang very different from that used by Hurston and Turner. Lucy Mae Turner's wit, good ear, and political acumen shine through in her vernacular poems.******

A KEEPSAKE FOR ALFRED A. KNOPF. "Written and Printed by Various Hands Celebrating His Fiftieth Year as a Book Publisher".

FIFTY FINELY-PRINTED, SMALL-PRESS LEAFLETS, including an introductory pamphlet by Charles Antin. The leaflets were printed by a wide variety of small private presses. All were printed in tribute to the publisher Alfred A. Knopf. There is also a leaflet that lists all the contributors and their presses (so, 51 leaflets total). The leaflets are all loose and held in a Publisher's slipcase.

SIGNED ASSOCIATION COPY. Two letters accompany the keepsake. One is from ALFRED A. KNOPF, and is SIGNED by KNOPF, likely secretarially. The letter is on Alfred A. Knopf stationery and comes with its Knopf mailing envelope. The letter is addressed to FRANK POWERS. It thanks Frank Powers for his contribution to the keepsake collection (Frank Powers / Powers Private Press provided one of the keepsakes). The other letter is from Charles Antin of the Serendipity Press. In his letter he thanks Frank [Powers] for his contribution and says he is enclosing a copy of the keepsake tribute collection. Charles Antin organized the Knopf tribute.

The keepsakes are 4.5x7 inch leaflets, most are 4 pages, some are two sides of a single leaf, some have more pages, and a few have inserts. THEY HAVE BEEN COLLATED with the included LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS (49) and are all present and in proper order. The keepsakes and the list of contributors are held in a purple paper covered slipcase which has a printed wraparound title band.

Contributors include Frank Altschul / Overbrook Press; Merle Armitage / Mohawk Press; Joseph Blumenthal / Spiral Press; Warren Chappell / Salisbury Press; Muir Dawson and Saul Marks / Plantin Press; Frank Powers / Powers Private Press; Ward Ritchie / Anderson, Ritchie & Simon; Patricia Waddel / Pratt Institute; Lili and Erich Wronker / Ron Press; and many others.

NEW YORK: Alfred A. Knopf, 1965. Limited Edition of only 150 copies.

VERY GOOD CONDITION: The slipcase has some rubs and light toning, the leaflets are all bright and clear, the letters are folded. A nice, solid set of keepsakes plus letters from Knopf and Antin.

About FRANK POWERS, one of the keepsake contributors and to whom letters of thanks from Knopf and Antin were addressed (from the Type Directors Club website):

******Frank Powers was one of the founders of the Type Directors Club "TDC", he even originated the term "Type Director" to give the role a more professional standing. In 1946 he became the TDC's first President, followed by two additional presidencies in 1961 and 1962. He also served as a tireless chairman of many TDC committees. Powers Often prepared club announcements on his home printing press, making printing plates from "a jar top, string, cork letters, a medal, linoleum, rubber tile, and cardboard." Frank worked as Director of Typography for J. Walter Thompson for 22 years.

In 1971 Frank Powers became the third member of the TDC to be honored with the TDC Medal "awarded for significant contributions to typography"******

Fritz Eichenberg. WERKKATALOG DER ILLUSTRIERTEN BUCHER 1922-1987 / CATALOGUE RAISONNE OF THE ILLUSTRATED BOOKS 1922-1987.

SIGNED and warmly INSCRIBED by ANTONIE EICHENBERG to LILI (LILLY) and ERICH WRONKER. ANTONIE EICHENBERG was the WIFE of FRITZ EICHENBERG (she designed this as well as many other books by her husband). LILI WRONKER, b.1924 d.2019, was a noted book illustrator, typographer and small press operator. The inscription reads:

"To Lilly and Erich Wronker / Fritz would have loved to sign it - Now I have to do it to you both. / With Love / Toni / 24. XII. '90"

In addition Antonie Eichenberg SIGNED her name beside the frontispiece photo of her husband (which she took): "Foto: Toni"; and again SIGNED: "Love Toni" in the margin of the Publisher's Introduction next to the German printed text (here in English): "I also feel obliged to Antonie Eichenberg, who designed the book cover and styled the typography of so many of her husband's works and without her help this book could not have been possible."

MEMMINGEN: Edition Curt Visel, 1987. Text in GERMAN and ENGLISH.

Hardcovers, 8x9 inches, 164 unnumbered pages. The latter half of the book is filled with examples of Fritz Eichenberg's b&w graphic works.

GOOD condition: The covers are lightly soiled and have corners that are lightly bumped, else solid and bright; internally the pages are tight, bright, clean and clear. A nice, presentable copy.

About FRITZ EICHENBERG (from Wikipedia):

******Fritz Eichenberg b,1901 d.1990, was a German-American illustrator and arts educator who worked primarily in wood engraving. Eichenberg was born to a Jewish family in Cologne, Germany. In 1933 he fled the rise of the Nazis and emigrated with his wife and children to the United States, where he settled in New York City for most of the remainder of his life. He taught art at the New School for Social Research and the Pratt Institute and was part of the WPA's Federal Arts Project.

In his prolific career as a book illustrator, Eichenberg worked with many forms of literature but specialized in material with elements of spiritual and emotional conflict, illustrating such authors as Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Charlotte and Emily Brontë, Poe, Swift, and Grimmelshausen. He also wrote and illustrated books of folklore and children's stories.******

About LILI WRONKER, to whom the book was inscribed (from an online obituary):

******Lili Cassel Wronker, b.1924 d.2019, was born in Berlin, Germany. She and her family fled the Nazi regime and immigrated to the United States in 1940, settling in New York. She illustrated her first children's book, The Rainbow Mother Goose, in 1947. It was described by the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) as one of the "Fifty Best Books of the Year". She later taught calligraphy at the New School.

In 1952 she married Erich Wronker with whom she would later run a small private press from their home.

A typophile par excellence and in deep love with Judaism, Lili Wronker was a founding member of the Society of Scribes in New York. Her typographic work can be seen in hundreds of book jackets between the 1940s and 1960s. Her love of Judaism found artistic expression in her Hebrew calligraphy, which appeared in many fine art books and magazines.******

STRANGE WATERS, by GEORGE STERLING.

SIGNED and INSCRIBED TWICE by GEORGE STERLING to GEORGE STEELE SEYMOUR the noted Chicago book collector who, with his wife Flora Warren Seymour, founded The Order of Bookfellows - a Chicago based literary society and small press publisher. In addition to being TWICE INSCRIBED by STERLING, the book has a number of the author's hand corrections.

The inscription on the title page reads: "Dear George: / Seriously, do you think there is any chance of getting this into our High Schools to supplant Evangeline? / Seriously, / George / San Francisco / Aug. 12, 1926." The second inscription is on the verso of the title page and reads: "For George Steele Seymour / from George Sterling."

No publisher or printed date, but the long inscription is dated August 12, 1926, which was just three and a half months before George Sterling committed Suicide. This was one of, if not the, last published work by George Sterling.

Booklet, paper wrappers (split at the spine fold and laid on loosely), 5.25x7.25 inches, ten numbered pages of text, plus title page and endpapers. The inner pages are string tied with a bow in the centerfold.

Condition: The front and rear wrappers are loose, they are toned especially at the margins; the inner pages are nice, lightly toned at the margins, otherwise tight, bright, clean and clear.

Though published near the end of his life, this is one of the more difficult Sterling items to find. Especially so with the humorous inscription; apparently he held on to his bohemian sense of humor until the end.

About George Sterling (from Wikipedia):

******George Sterling, b.1869 d.1926, was an American writer based in the San Francisco, California Bay Area and Carmel by the Sea. He was considered a prominent poet and playwright and proponent of Bohemianism during the first quarter of the twentieth century. His work was admired by writers as diverse as Jack London, Upton Sinclair, Theodore Dreiser, and Sinclair Lewis.

In 1905 Sterling moved to Carmel by the Sea, California, an undeveloped coastal area, and soon established a settlement for like-minded Bohemian writers. Carmel had been discovered by Charles Warren Stoddard and others, but Sterling made it world famous.

Sterling joined the Bohemian Club and acted in their theatrical productions each summer at the Bohemian Grove. For the Grove play of 1907 the Club presented Sterling's "The Triumph of Bohemia".

Sterling carried a vial of cyanide for many years. In November 1926, Sterling used it while at his residence at the San Francisco Bohemian Club. Kevin Starr wrote that "When George Sterling's corpse was discovered in his room at the Bohemian Club... the golden age of San Francisco's bohemia had definitely come to a miserable end."******

PUBLIC OUTCRY - Broadside Poem by JOYCE CAROL OATES. SIGNED beneath her printed name.

An unusual broadside poem by Oates published in 1976 the year of America's Bicentennial. The work focuses on the triviality of what the press defines as "Outrageous" and the trivial ways in which the press advises its followers to take action. The poem is surrounded by images of newspaper articles, including one that notes the Bicentennial "Color Your Yard Red, White and Blue".

Published by the SLOW LORIS PRESS, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1976. Printed in an edition of only 65 signed and numbered copies, this being copy 60.

The broadside poem is 11x17 inches (28x42.5 cm), and is professionally dry mounted on a 16x22 inch (40x55.5 cm) stiff mounting board. It is thus ready for framing.

VERY GOOD condition, a bit of edgewear to the mounting board, overall solid and nice.

Something about this poem shakes me, it is so relevant to today's world. Please keep at it Joyce.

MARTIN STONE, BOOKSCOUT, by PETER B. HOWARD.

SIGNED and INSCRIBED in pencil by PETER HOWARD on the title page: "for David and Beth / Peter Howard".

Published by SERENDIPITY BOOKS, Berkeley, 2000. Limited to 200 copies, so stated on the copyright page.

An essay by the late, renowned bookseller Peter Howard, about his friend, Martin Stone, a rock guitarist and an incredible antiquarian book scout.

Booklet, softcovers, sewn binding, 7.5x10 inches, 15 pages.

NEAR FINE Condition: just lightly handled, tight, bright, clean and unmarked.

Peter Howard, who owned Serendipity Books of Berkeley, California, and was at one time the President of the ABAA, died in 2010. Peter, wherever you are I want you to know that the Roast Suckling Pig you brought out every two years at the time of the San Francisco ABAA Book Fair was Yummy!

About MARTIN STONE (from Wikipedia):

******Martin Stone (11 December 1946, Woking, Surrey - 9 November 2016, Versailles, France) was an English guitarist and rare book dealer. He was a resident of Fingest in Buckinghamshire and, later, of Paris.

Educated at Whitgift School, Stone initially wanted to be a journalist and began as a cub reporter on The Croydon Advertiser, interviewing Jimmy Page when he was still a session musician. Stone's passion for the guitar led him to become a musician. His guitar talent was such that he was considered a possible replacement for Brian Jones in the Rolling Stones. Martin Stone played in many groups, including Junior's Blues Band, Stone's Masonry, Almost Presley, The Action, Savoy Brown Blues Band, Mighty Baby, Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers, Southern Comfort, The Pink Fairies, and The 101'ers. His last album, which he called his legacy album is LIVE FROM THE TERMINAL CAFE with Michael Moorcock and the Deep Fix (Cleopatra Records, Autumn 2019).

Subsequent to his musical efforts Stone achieved international notoriety as a bookscout. He is a major player in John Baxter's memoir A Pound of Paper: Confessions of a Book Addict. He is the subject of a limited edition book Martin Stone, Bookscout by the California rare bookseller Peter Howard of Serendipity Books. He appeared in the television documentary Without Walls: The Cardinal And The Corpse (Iain Sinclair / Chris Petit 1992). He is also known to be the basis for the character Nicholas Lane in Sinclair's novel White Chappell, Scarlett Tracings (1987).

Stone was married in 1980 to Ruth Bullock and their daughter is the actress Sophie Leigh Stone.******

UNFINISHED POEMS by MARIANNE MOORE. The Rosenbach Foundation, Philadelphia, 1972.

Photocopied pages, plastic spiral bound, 8.5x11 inches, 76 pages printed on one side only. VERY GOOD condition, the front and rear clear plastic covers are age toned and a bit soiled, the inner pages are lightly toned, the photocopied pages have many of the usual early copy machine lines, spots and changes in clarity. Overall a wonderful look at Marianne Moore's unpublished and often incomplete poems.

SCARCE. In 1972, the year Marianne Moore died, the Rosenbach Foundation realized it was necessary to get copyrights for Moore's unpublished poems, none of which were copyrighted at the time. The result, apparently, was this photocopied publication that was put together by the Rosenbach Foundation for the sole purpose of being sent to the Library of Congress for copyright protection.

In 1972 Patricia C. Willis was curator of the Marianne Moore papers at the Rosenbach Foundation. Here is what she wrote in 2015 about this 1972 photocopied collection of "Unpublished Poems" that she assembled for copyright protection (taken from the Internet):

"When as curator of the Moore papers at the Rosenbach I first sorted the poetry manuscripts...I saw that each was typed with Moore's typewriter of the time on the blue stationary that she customarily used for poems she sent to little magazines and most bore her Carlisle return address in the upper left corner. With the permission of her estate, I prepared a photocopy edition of "Unfinished Poems" in order to secure copyrights for her unpublished poems... - Patricia C. Willis, November 16, 2015."

I have no idea how many of these "Unpublished Poems by Marianne Moore" were put together for internal distribution at the Rosenbach, but it is the only copy I have or have ever seen.

************************************** From Wikipedia and various Internet sources:

Marianne Craig Moore, b.1887 d.1972, was an American modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. Her poetry is noted for formal innovation, precise diction, irony, and wit.

The Rosenbach Foundation's literary collection includes virtually all of the manuscripts and papers of Marianne Moore (1887-1972), as well as her personal library, thousands of photographs, and the contents of her Greenwich village living room, thus making the Rosenbach the undisputed center for the study of Marianne Moore.

Patricia C. Willis is the author and editor of a number of books on Marianne Moore. She worked at the Rosenbach Foundation and later at Yale's Beinecke Library as its Elizabeth Wakeman Dwight Curator of the Collection of American Literature.

Clive E. Driver, whose name is on the copyright page, was the Literary Executor of the Estate of Marianne C. Moore. He worked at the Rosenbach Foundation and has written a number of works published by the Foundation. **************************************

THE MAKING OF THE REPRESENTATIVE FOR PLANET 8 - AN OPERA IN THREE ACTS. By PHILIP GLASS and DORIS LESSING.

A nice gathering of items related to the OPERA by Philip Glass and Doris Lessing:

*LIBRETTO for the OPERA, by Glass and Lessing. SIGNED by PHILIP GLASS on the title page. Published by Dunvagen Music Publishers (Philip Glass' Music Publishing Company), New York, 1988. Softcovers, side stapled, 7x10.5 inches, 28 pages. First Edition. NEAR FINE condition, tight, bright and clean.

*CANOPUS IN ARGOS ARCHIVES : THE MAKING OF THE REPRESENTATIVE FOR PLANET 8, by DORIS LESSING. Published by Jonathan Cape, London, 1982. First Edition. Hardcover Book in Dustjacket. NEAR FINE book in NEAR FINE dustjacket, a solid, lovely copy. **SIGNED** by Doris Lessing on a bookplate on the front pastedown.

*PROGRAM for the OPERA performed by the English National Opera at its U.K. Premier at the London Coliseum. Published by the English National Opera, 1988. Softcovers, side-stapled, 5x9 inches, 48 pages. NEAR FINE condition.

*TWO ORIGINAL 8x10 GLOSSY PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS for the OPERA PREMIER at the HOUSTON GRAND OPERA in 1988. One photo is a mock-up of the stage set design, as designed by EIKO ISHIOKA and MINORU TERADA DOMBERGER. The 1988 Washington Post review said: "The most effective part of this opera's performance here was the staging by director Minoru Terada Domberger and designer Eiko Ishioka." GOOD condition, both press photographs have the expected marks, ink stamps, and notes, but remain bright and clear. Eiko's stage mock-up is a wonderful and rare item.

About the OPERA The Making of the Representative for Planet 8 (from Wikipedia):

******The Making of the Representative for Planet 8 is a full-scale opera by Philip Glass with a libretto by Doris Lessing based on her novel of the same name, first performed in 1988. Together with Glass's 1997 opera The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five, it is part of a planned trilogy of operas based on Lessing's Canopus in Argos novels.

The opera was co-commissioned by English National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam, and Theater Kiel, and co-produced with Artpark, Lewiston, New York State. The opera was first performed at Houston Grand Opera on 8 July 1988. The British premiere was 9 November 1988 by English National Opera at the London Coliseum. This production was broadcast live in the UK on BBC Radio 3 on 13 December 1988.******

BETWEEN THE LINES: Letters and Memoranda Interchanged by H. Buxton Forman and Thomas J. Wise. Foreword by Carl H. Pforzheimer, introductory essay and notes by Fannie E. Ratchford.

Correspondence between a bibliographer/bookseller and a collector who worked together to produce and sell many literary forgeries.

AUSTIN: The University of Texas Press, 1945. LIMITED EDITION, one of only 525 copies.

Hardcover Book, gilt top edges, 6.5x9.5 inches, xii + 38 pages of text + 35 facsimile plates, including some that fold-open. No slipcase.

The book is in VERY GOOD, light foxing to the blank endpapers, otherwise sharp cornered, tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked.

About FORMAN and WISE and their LITERARY FORGERIES (from Wikipedia):

******Henry Buxton Forman, b.1842 d.1917, was a Victorian era bibliographer and antiquarian bookseller who wrote bibliographies of Percy Shelley and John Keats. In 1934 he was revealed to have been in a conspiracy with Thomas James Wise, b.1859 d.1937, to produce and sell large quantities of forged first editions of Georgian and Victorian authors.

In 1887 Henry Buxton Forman and Thomas James Wise, a London commodity broker and book collector, began producing literary forgeries, often using an apocryphal Philadelphia Historical Society as a cover. Numerous forgeries were produced over the next fifteen years. They specialized in early pamphlets, supposedly privately published, of poets some of whom such as Rossetti and Swinburne were still living. Dates, places of publication, publishers (as distinct from printers) led the collecting world to believe in these 'rare private' editions. Buxton Forman and Wise forged publications by: Elizabeth Barrett Browning, George Eliot, John Ruskin, Matthew Arnold, Alfred Tennyson, George Meredith and William Thackeray and many others. Many of these forgeries were sold to collectors across the English speaking world. It would be forty years later that their fraud would be discovered by John Carter. The extent of the forgeries was such that the Brayton Ives sale in New York in 1915 contained twenty four forgeries.******

DORIS LESSING POSTER. "AN EVENING TO BENEFIT THE AFGHAN REFUGEE FUND / DORIS LESSING". The "Lecture and Conversation" event took place on April 9 (1984) in Berkeley, California.

SIGNED, INSCRIBED and DATED by DORIS LESSING in Silver Ink: "With good wishes / Doris Lessing / 9th April 1984".

The poster is 13 x 19.5 inches. It is in VERY GOOD condition, with some creases from handling to the right margin, overall bright and lovely.

The poster was stored rolled, and will be shipped in its natural rolled state. Would look great mounted and/or framed.

This event took place a few years before the publication of her book "The Wind Blows Away Our Words". The book was about the horrors taking place in Afghanistan and how the West was doing little to help.

An unusual Doris Lessing item.

NOVEMBER THE NINTH AT KERSEA, by ANTHONY SWIFT (pseudonym of Joseph Jefferson Farjeon).

LONDON: Robert Hale Limited, 1944. First edition, with the statement "First published in Great Britain 1944" on the copyright page with no indication of additional printings.

Hardcover Book in Dustjacket, purple cloth covered boards, red titles to the spine, 5x7.5 inches (13x19 cm), 187 pages.

Condition: VERY GOOD book, the covers are solid and sharp with just a touch of self wear to the corner tips and spine ends; internally, the text block is split at one spot but holding well, there is a light oval shaped stain to the top margin of the rear endpapers that also barely affects the preceding couple of pages, otherwise the pages are tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked; in a GOOD dustjacket that has wear to the edges and spine ends including small chips and closed tears, is sunned at the spine and margins, lightly soiled, and is price clipped at the bottom of the front flap. An attractive copy.

Scarce first edition in dustjacket.

About Joseph Jefferson Farjeon aka Anthony Swift (from Wikipedia):

******Joseph Jefferson Farjeon, b.1883 d.1955, was an English crime and mystery novelist, playwright and screenwriter. Farjeon's crime novels were admired by Dorothy L. Sayers, who called him "unsurpassed for creepy skill in mysterious adventures". Since 2014 a number of Fargeon's mystery novels have been reissued. Farjeon wrote three mysteries under the pseudonym Anthony Swift.******

CIRCLE (1944-1948) the Bay Area's seminal literary journal. A synthesis of the surreal, eclectic, pacifist, and anarchist ideologies that formed the radical basis of the San Francisco Renaissance and was an influential precursor of the Beat Movement.

CIRCLE Vol. 1, No. 3. Published by Circle, Berkeley, printed by The Greenwood Press, San Mateo, California, 1944. George Leite Editor, Assistant Editor, Bern Porter. First edition. Softcover, illustrated wrappers, 9" x 6.25", staple bound, 61 pages, illustrated with some headpiece decorations printed in brick red, and a Max Ernst painting reproduced in b&w. GOOD CONDITION: covers pulled from rear staples and disbound, spine is age toned with small tearing/wear at the ends, shelfwear, and a few light coffee droplets, internally, signs of age and use, otherwise bright, clean and unmarked and the red and black Kenneth Rexroth printed cover remains very bright. Circle number 3 is very scarce and hardly ever found.

Cover by KENNETH REXROTH (1905-1982) Poet, Artist, Godfather of the San Francisco Renaissance.

George T. Leite (1920-1985) controversial author, publisher, poet, taught experimental literature at UC Berkeley, owned an important bookstore and gallery space on Telegraph Ave in Berkeley, daliel's. He was friends with and published the works of Robert Duncan, Kenneth Rexroth, Henry Miller, William Everson, Philip Lamantia, Anais Nin, Jack Spicer and a devotee of the renegade Freudian Wilhelm Reich and his Orgone theory.

SPECIMENS from the PRESS IN TUSCANY ALLEY'S EDITION of A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES, by Robert Louis Stevenson. With nine poems not published in prior editions.

A FINE PRINTING KEEPSAKE that was presented to members of the Roxburghe and Zamorano Clubs in 1996. Produced from sheets originally printed in 1978 by ADRIAN WILSON at THE PRESS IN TUSCANY ALLEY, San Francisco, 1978. A beautiful production.

LIMITED EDITION of only 150 copies, as stated on the copyright page

Folder / Paper Covers, 7.5x12.5 inches, string-bound, 10 pages. There are five "specimens" (i.e. printed signatures - samples from the larger work) laid into a flap on the inside rear cover; four are folded signatures of four or more pages, one is a single leaf illustration, each is 6.5x10 inches. All are quite lovely. These signatures were overruns from the original Tuscany Alley edition printed in 1978.

ILLUSTRATED by Joyce Lancaster Wilson with 2 tipped in full color illustrations, and a few color illustrations in the specimen signatures.

The Folder and Specimens are all in FINE condition.

About ADRIAN WILSON (from a 1988 NY Times Obituary):

******Adrian Wilson, a book designer and scholar who was considered one of America's leading fine printers, died Wednesday in San Francisco. He was 64 years old.

Working out of a small San Francisco studio known as "The Press at Tuscany Alley," Mr. Wilson designed and printed scores of books. His many volumes, while little known to the general public, are famous among print connoisseurs, and many are collectors' items.

In 1983, Mr. Wilson won a MacArthur Fellowship.*****

TWO FIRST EDITION LIBRARY BOOKS. Hardcover Books in Dustjackets. Published by the First Edition Library, Shelton, Connecticut, various dates (FEL was founded in 1987 and ceased operations in the mid 1990s).

THE FOUNTAINHEAD, by AYN RAND. Condition: VERY GOOD book, some light stains to the top page edges, otherwise near fine, sharp, tight, bright and clean; in a VERY GOOD dustjacket that has wear to the spine ends and corner tips. A very presentable copy of the book and its dj. The First Edition Library information card is laid in. Lacks the slipcase.

THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH, by SAUL BELLOW. Condition: NEAR FINE book, sharp, tight, bright and clean; in a NEAR FINE dustjacket. A lovely first edition facsimile. The First Edition Library information card is laid in. Lacks the slipcase.

First Edition replicas with all first printing points present.

About FIRST EDITION LIBRARY Books:

First Edition Library books are EXACT facsimiles of the original first edition, first printings. The aim was to publish the best of American literature as it first appeared. FEL replicas have the same weight, size, typeface, art, dust jacket, finish and texture as well as points of issue as the originals. The sewn bindings, stamping and even the original price on the jacket flap are all exact replicas. The only marks identifying FEL books as not being the originals is "FEL" printed at the bottom of the rear dustjacket flaps, and a First Edition Library statement on the copyright pages (printed in its own block to distinguish it from the facsimile original first edition copyright statements).

INTERNATIONAL BUYERS PLEASE NOTE: These two books will require additional shipping charges. After placing your order you will be notified of the additional charges and be able to accept or reject them before your payment is processed. Or you can contact us ahead of time to find out the shipping charge to your country. Thanks.

WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS, et al. THE BOOK OF THE RHYMERS' CLUB & THE SECOND BOOK OF THE RHYMERS' CLUB. Together 2 volumes. Both are small anthologies of poems from the Rhymers' Club, a group of London based poets founded by William Butler Yeats and Ernest Rhys.

LONDON: Elkin Mathews, at the sign of the Bodley Head, 1892; and Elkin Mathews & John Lane, 1894. Both are LIMITED FIRST EDITIONS of only 450 and 650 copies respectively.

From the Limitation Pages:

"Four Hundred and Fifty Copies of this Edition [The Book of the Rhymers' Club] printed, of which Three Hundred and Fifty are for Sale."

"Of this Edition [The Second Book of the Rhymers' Club] Five Hundred Copies have been printed for England of which four hundred are for Sale. One Hundred and Fifty Copies also have been printed for America."

Hardcover Books, cloth covered boards, 5x6.5 inches (12.5x16.5 cm), 94 and 136 pp respectively; paper spine title label on Book One, gilt spine titling on Book Two..

Provenance: From the library of noted book collector Albert Parsons Sachs, with his bookplate on the front pastedown of Book One.

Condition:

Book One: GOOD condition.The covers are lightly soiled and have a couple slight bumps to the edges, the spine is a little chipped at the ends and the spine title label is rubbed and chipped affecting the lettering; nonetheless these original covers remain solid and are doing their job well. Internally, there is the bookplate of Albert Parsons Sachs on the front pastedown (as noted above), the pages are age toned, otherwise tight, bright, clean and unmarked. A complete, original, nicely presentable copy.

Book Two: GOOD condition. The cover's front spine fold is split but holding well and the boards have a few rubs, otherwise the covers are solid and attractive; internally the pages are age toned as normal, the inner hinge is cracked in places but holding well, otherwise bright, clean, clear and unmarked.

First Editions of the Rhymers' Club books are Scarce.

About THE RHYMERS' CLUB (from Wikipedia):

******The Rhymers' Club, founded in 1890 by W. B. Yeats and Ernest Rhys, was a gathering of some of London's most distinctive poets, who met at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese public house, off Fleet Street, and in the Domino Room of the Café Royal, to drink and read aloud each other's work.

The Rhymers' Club published two volumes of verse. The first, entitled The Book of the Rhymers' Club was published by Elkin Mathews in 1892. The Second Book of the Rhymers' Club appeared two years later in 1894, published by the recently merged Elkin Mathews and John Lane Publishers. They had print runs of 450 and 650 respectively. Those of the group appearing in these two volumes included: William Butler Yeats, T.W. Rolleston, John Todhunter, Richard Le Gallienne, Lionel Johnson, Arthur Cecil Hillier, Ernest Dowson, Victor Plarr, Ernest Radford, Arthur Symons, G.A. Greene, Edwin J. Ellis, and Ernest Rhys.

The Rhymers' Club stopped meeting in 1895.

Yeats later in his autobiography Yeats sought to mythologize the collective, calling it the "Tragic Generation" whose members were destined for failure and, in many cases, early death.******

In this work Beat poet Diane di Prima penned some of the most powerful lines about abortion ever written.

BRASS FURNACE GOING OUT SONG, AFTER AN ABORTION by DIANE DI PRIMA

Published by PulpArtForms / Intrepid Press, Syracuse, New York, 1975. First edition, No. 9 from "The Beau Fleuve Series". Edited by Allen De Loach.

Printed wrappers, side staple bound, 10.75 x 8.25 inches, thin item with 16 unnumbered pages, printed on newsprint, front cover with halftone reproduction of a sculpture by Suzanne Benton, "Fertile Donation Box", rear wrapper with ads and halftone portrait of the author.

VERY GOOD Condition: age toning as normal (printed on newsprint), otherwise bright, clean, and unmarked, a very good copy of this fragile work. OCLC locates no copies of this, or any other edition.

One of her most acclaimed poems, written in 1960 after di Prima was pressured by her partner poet LeRoi Jones (aka Amiri Baraka) to abort their child. A bewildering, raw and powerful work, from a lonely bus ride to an underground clinic to the life changing grief that came after. Di Prima believed that abortion, fraught, Illegal and dangerous as it was, was "our woman right". Diane di Prima (1934-2020) was a rare, prominent female voice in the Beat community alongside her counterparts like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg.

A COLLECTION OF PRESSMARKS: Gathered From America's Private Presses and From Others Not So Private.

COMPLETE SET OF ALL THREE VOLUMES. Hardcover Books, bound in gold, burgundy and blue cloth covered boards, 5x8 inches, 94, 102 and 100 pages respectively. Volume Three also has an Index to the Pressmarks in all Three Volumes. Each volume is fully ILLUSTRATED with PRESSMARKS from many American Private Presses. There are also two pieces of related ephemera laid-in.

Compiled, Written and Published by James Lamar Weygand aka "The Private Press of the Indiana Kid", Nappanee, Indiana, 1956, 1959 & 1962. First Editions, Limited to 165, 250 and 250 copies. James Lamar Weygand was a noted Indiana private press printer and publisher.

All three volumes are in NEAR FINE condition, just lightly used, tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked. Lovely copies.

For some reason Volume One (1956) shows up from time to time, but Volumes Two (1959) and Three (1962) rarely appear.