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106 O’CONNOR, Flannery. Wise Blood. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1952 Octavo. Original yellow boards, titles to spine in black. With the dust jacket. Spine rolled and rubbed with a couple of small splits to spine ends, circula- tion card envelope laid down to front pastedown, inscribed note to front free endpaper, tape residue to front free endpaper, flaps from a later edition of the book taped to rear endpaper. Overall a very good copy, internally clean, in the repaired and restored jacket. first edition, first issue jacket, presentation copy of o’connor’s landmark first book to the Shoenberg Library of the National Jewish Hospital in Colorado, with a presentation note tipped in to the front free endpaper inscribed, “This book present- ed to the patients of The National Jewish Hospital with the compli- ments of the author”, and with the library’s stamp to the first blank. It is accompanied by a typed letter signed from the author to Phillip Houtz, director of the hospital, dated 28 June 1952, informing him that the book would arrive shortly from her publishers, previously tipped in and now loosely inserted. £4,750 [109740] 107 OLIVER, Mary. No Voyage. London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1963 Octavo. Original green patterned boards, spine lettered in gilt, fore edges uncut. With the dust jacket. Head of spine bumped, else a near-fine copy in the slightly rubbed dust jacket, spine browned, some nicks and creasing to extremities, top edge browned.
first edition of the scarce true first book appearance of the poetry of Mary Oliver (1935–2019), preceding the US edition by two years, since Oliver was living in London at the time. The print run was small and many copies went to libraries. This copy has an interesting association , with the ownership signature of Marie Bullock in pencil to front free endpaper—likely that of the found- er and president of the Academy of American Poets (1911–1986). Bullock was awarded a number of international medals for her ef- forts in promoting and encouraging the work of new poets. Laid into this copy is a typed pre-order slip, the word “order” written in pencil on the top right corner (in a not-dissimilar hand to Bullock’s signature), with the sheet carefully torn below the dotted line. As well as confirming the book’s price (15s net), measurements, and publication date (26 September), the slip repeats, almost verbatim, many of the sentiments expressed on the dust jacket blurb—”[Oli- ver’s] pieces already show an emotional maturity and a felicity and simplicity of language which makes this a remarkable debut”. The titular poem of this collection had won the Poetry Society of America’s annual price in 1962. The Harvard Review described Oli- ver’s poetry as “an excellent antidote for the excesses of civilization, for too much flurry and inattention, and the baroque conventions of our social and professional lives. She is a poet of wisdom and generosity whose vision allows us to look intimately at a world not of our making”. From this debut aged 28, Oliver went on to win the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize (for American Primitive , 1983), among many others, and to become “far and away this coun- try’s best selling poet” ( The New York Times , 18 February 2007). Pri- marily a poet of nature, she lived for most of her writing career in Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and has been compared to Ralph Emerson and Emily Dickinson. £2,000 [130792]
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All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
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