24 ELIOT, T. S. The Waste Land. New York: Boni & Liveright, 1922 A fine copy with the dust jacket and publisher’s glassine First edition in book form, first printing, number 83 of 1,000 copies, and rare with the dust jacket and publisher’s glassine. With unopened gatherings, this is a near-fine example. Arguably the most significant poem of the 20th century, The Waste Land was first published in The Criterion in October 1922, a couple of months before book publication. This is the first issue in the flexible cloth and with the stamped numbers in the colophon 5 mm high. Donald Gallup notes that “approximately the first 500 copies bound have the flexible cloth binding and figures 5 mm high in the colophon”. Line 339 on page 41 has “mountain” with dropped text, a variant state within the first printing but not an issue point. Though without mark of ownership, this copy is likely one of a small number of exceedingly fine copies emerging from the estate of of American poet and editor Schofield Thayer (1889–1982). As editor of The Dial magazine he had included “The Waste Land” in November 1922. Thayer awarded Eliot the $2,000 prize for the year, the announcement for which appears on the front of the dust jacket. Octavo. Original black cloth, spine and front cover lettered in gilt, edges untrimmed. With dust jacket and publisher’s glassine. Housed in a custom chemise and black morocco slipcase. Slight browning to front endpapers, jacket spine panel faintly sunned, trivial nicks to extremities of jacket and glassine, otherwise a fine copy, fresh and crisp. A beautiful example. ¶ Gallup A6a. £125,000 [152808]
25 ELIOT, T. S. The Waste Land. London: printed by Giovanni Mardersteig on the hand-press of the Officina Bodoni in Verona,
for Faber & Faber, 1961 [1962] a magnificent edition
First Bodoni edition of Eliot’s masterpiece, number 286 of 300 copies signed by the poet. This is a magnificent piece of book
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INEXHAUSTIBLE LIFE
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