Waldrop, Keith; Waldrop, Rosmarie

Until Volume One

Providence, RI: Burning Deck Press, 1973. Limited First Edition. Stapled Wrappers. Signed by Keith & Rosmarie Waldrop to Laurence & Nancy Goldstein. "vestiges and | not neatly separated | the wind | with (perhaps) | the same ritual | smell of soot until | not plunged like a | furnace like | against comparison any | burning on earth but | a set of | diamonds or other easy | to die dreaming the river the | river as | paradigm" (opening stanza, pg. 1). Until Volume One is a poem written by husband & wife duo, American poets Keith Waldrop (1932-2023) & Rosmarie Waldrop (b. 1935), self-published by their small press imprint, Burning Deck. The Waldrops bought a second-hand press and started Burning Deck in Ann Arbor, MI in 1961 while at the University of Michigan, then moved the operation to Providence, RI in the later 1960s. The title is a nod to the press's own origin as Burning Deck the magazine (a self-described "quinterly" that ran four issues before turning into a pamphlet series and then a book press (see Item No. 6997). Joint-authored Waldrop titles are uncommon. The better-known ones are Well Well Reality and the double autobiography Ceci n'est pas Keith, Ceci n'est pas Rosmarie, published by Burning Deck in 2002, making this collaboration an early instance of that thread. From the collection of Laurence Goldstein (1943-2023), poet, editor, and professor in the University of Michigan Department of English Language and Literature. At front endpage, the Waldrops have inscribed and signed to Goldstein & his wife Nancy: "To Larry & Nancy | (signed in charcoal black ink) Rosmarie | (signed in cerulean blue ink) + Keith." Stapled Wrappers in Over Wraps: Limited First Edition per endpage colophon: "Of 500 copies this is number" with "63." handwritten in navy blue ink beneath printed colophon. A most collectible Small Press production with Ann Arbor ties in its rarest contemporary form, with extremely relevant association & very distinguished provenance. In relatively fine-to-very fine condition with mild age-toning & rubbing to front, back covers & spine; mild wear to fine edges & mild bumping to corners of same; very mild occasions of smudging to front cover; due to production oversight, booklet has come loose from wrappers at staple; mild age-toning to text block. Interior fine-to-very fine with very mild age-toning mostly to fine edges & blank margins of page leaves. Over wraps fine-to-very fine with mild smudging to front wrap & mild wear to fine edges of front, back wraps, spine & flaps. Fine-Very Fine. [Item #9381]

Price: $50.00 save 10% $45.00