FAULKNER, William (1897-1962); Lynd Ward (illustrates)

A Green Bough [Signed]

New York: Harrison Smith & Robert Haas, 1933. Limited Edition. Hardcover. No. 205 of 360 copies signed by Faulkner in blue ink at the colophon. Demy 8vo (217 x 159mm): 67,[3]pp, with four wood engravings by Lynd Ward (including inlaid frontispiece and vignette in colophon) printed in green on laid paper, watermarked "Linweave Milano." Publisher's original tan V-cloth, front cover lettered in black with two inlaid pictorial labels printed from woodcuts, spine lettered in black, fore- and bottom edges rough-trimmed. Issued without a dust jacket. Very minor darkening to cloth, else an excellent example, tightly bound and clean throughout. Petersen A15.1a (the "black lettering on the cover is almost always chipped away"; our is fully intact). Dance 053. Man Working 755. Fine-. Item #BB2616

Second and final collection of Faulkner's poetry published during his lifetime, comprising forty-four numbered poems, of which fourteen had appeared previously, wholly or in part. "William Faulkner's new volume of poems is immediately notable for the number of experiments in imitation which it contains. . . . In the first of his forty-four poems, Mr. Faulkner treats of a drawing room full of 'All the Dead Pilots' in a strict 'Prufrock' and 'Portrait of a Lady' idiom. In the third poem he yields to the thrill of hallucination, and he gets it with Hart Crane's means—a dazzling eruption of metaphors on a blank verse norm. In poem IV he writes a complete E. E. Cummings poem and throughout the volume he works in a few patented tricks (even Mr. Cummings's favorite prefix Un-). Almost any student given the anonymous poems XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV would spot them as the work of A. E. Housman." (William Gorman, “William Faulkner, Poet,” New York Sun, April 21, 1933, p. 25) N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).

Price: $949.00