Waldman, Anne

To A Young Poet

Boston, MA: White Raven Press, 1979. Limited First Edition. Sewn Leaves in Loose Wrappers. "Never forget you are what you are/ making, the intricacies of feeling/ change in autumn- how crystal the/ conscious mind, how unsettled the/ leaves seem - and not be irritated." (first five lines, unpaginated) The title poem dated October 20,1978 by Anne Waldman, the iconic New York School-&-Beyond American poet. With front cover reproduction of photograph taken by John Barkin depicting Waldman with Reed Bye, her former husband to whom the poem is dedicated & the father of their son Ambrose Bye. A letterpress chapbook production with sewn binding in loose wrappers (see condition details below). Per colophon at inner back cover, this copy is from an edition of 500, of which 50 copies were numbered & signed by the poet. This copy is from those 450 un-numbered & unsigned. Just below colophon is a red ink stamp stating: "Withdrawn from the/ University of Michigan." UM has a very large & important Waldman archive in its collections, perhaps this copy was redundant- interestingly, we obtained it from England. A very rare Waldman collectible that's been on quite a circuitous journey- where will it go next? In fine albeit puzzling condition as follows: Mild-to-moderate rubbing & scratching to front, esp. back covers & spine of loose outer covers; mild wear & some tiny bumps, creases at thin edges & corners of same; several very small red ink spots on surface of front cover near lower right corner, very slightly effecting image. Interior with bleeding from stamp noted above onto blank area near lower edge of final page leaf recto; small blue stamp with "MiU" in circle at blank area near lower edge of third leaf recto; tiny bumps at corners of page leaves; green binding thread is outwardly loose- we cannot determine if this was untied or never tied-completed, or if it was meant to extend to & bind loose outer covers where we discern one tiny hole at spine- we prefer to leave binding in this condition to be completed or not by purchaser. Fine. [Item #4417]

Price: $40.00 save 20% $32.00