Laughlin, James

Some Natural Things: Poems

Norfolk, CT: New Directions, 1945. First Edition. Hardcover. Inscribed & signed by James Laughlin to Thomas Rain Crowe. "These poems are not I/ hope what anyone ex-// pects and yet reader/ I hope that when you// read them you will say/ I've felt that too but// it was such a natural/ thing it was too plain// to see until you saw/ it for me in your poem." ("The Poet to the Reader," front flap) The first collection of poems by James Laughlin (1914-1997), the great American editor & publisher whose New Directions imprint resides in the Pantheon of literature with such impactful giants as Barney Rosset's Grove Press & Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Books. Laughlin was also a very gifted & impassioned poet, as demonstrated by this, among the earliest ND productions. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first edition, first printing (though neither explicated specifically) of May 1945 per colophon. On front blank endpaper, Laughlin has hand-written & signed in cursive black ink: "For Thomas Crowe/ from (signed) J Laughlin." Thomas Rain Crowe (b. 1949) is the acclaimed poet & publisher who was at the center of the Baby Beat Generation/ Second San Francisco Renaissance during the 1970s- see our item No. 3071, Starting From San Francisco, published by Third Mind Books. On pages 195-197 of our volume, Crowe describes how his own imprint, New Native Press, which he founded after he returned from San Francisco to his birthplace of North Carolina, was modeled on Laughlin's ND. This copy is from the TRC archive (see our item No. 1010), assembled & curated by TMB, which collectively represents the entire legacy of the BBG/SSFR, all of the items in which are being separately curated & offered incrementally throughout this new year of 2025. A particularly scarce & significant collectible in the Laughlin/ND canon, greatly enriched by this mentor-to-protege inscription, signature, provenance & association. Book in relatively good-to-near-fine condition with mild-to-moderate rubbing, browning, staining & slight fading to front, back covers & spine (gilt letters at spine somewhat dulled but substantially intact); very slight wear & mild-to-moderate fading, browning & staining at edges & corners of same; mild-to-moderate rubbing, browning to edges of text block. Interior good-to-near-fine with mild-to-moderate browning, staining to blank paste-downs, endpapers & page leaves (apparently common to all copies we have seen images of); tiny bumps at corners of some leaves; side-edges of some leaves shorter & irregular as issued. Dust jacket (again relatively) good-to-near-fine with mild-to-moderate rubbing, browning & staining to front, back covers,spine & flaps; mild wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same; several short, mostly closed tears esp. at spine-edges, corners with minimal loss of paper; several tiny holes, near-hole thinnings at blank areas of lower left front cover, upper back cover (possibly as issued on delicate paper). We note that as with the book, the condition of dust jacket is at or above that of any we have seen images of. Good-Near Fine / Good-Near Fine. [Item #7192]

Price: $250.00