Berrigan, Ted

The Sonnets

New York, NY: Grove Press, 1964. First Trade Edition. Stapled Wrappers. "Ted Berrigan likes to read a lot. He is smart, as well as being intelligent. I like the way he walks and I like the way he talks. He is a real poet, 24 hours a day, and a wonderful person." (Joe Brainard, from back cover) The first trade edition of the first collection of poems by Ted Berrigan (1934-1983), the great New York School-&-Beyond American poet. Dedicated to & with back cover commentary (quoted above) by Joe Brainard (1942-1994), another great New York School poet & artist who was Berrigan's colleague, friend & close neighbor in NYC. Chapbook-Format softcover original in stapled wrappers: First (Trade) Edition, First Printing, as stated on copyright page. A production of the legendary Barney Rosset's Grove Press "Evergreen Original" series. This key inaugural collection, considered by some critics to be his finest work, was subsequently published in various expanded editions from the later 1960s through the beginning of the twenty-first century. From the collection of Robin Eichele (b. 1941), a prominent Mimeograph Revolutionary American poet who co-founded, with John Sinclair, the Detroit Artists' Workshop in the 1960s, & is our nearby good friend. A foundational Berrigan collectible in its rarest contemporary trade form, with relevant & distinguished provenance. In relatively quite fine condition with light rubbing, faint scratching to front, back covers & stapled spine; slight wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same incl. minor loss of surface paper esp. at upper spine-edge & corners; mild rubbing, browning & a few faint scratches to edges of text block. Interior very fine with only a hint of browning to blank white inner covers, page leaves (the latter mostly at blank margins/edges); tiny bumps, occasional very small creases at corners of some leaves. Fine. [Item #6262]

Price: $100.00