THE POET AND THE PRINTERS.
(Laguna Beach, Ca: Laguna Verde Imprenta, 1980). First edition. A hodge-podge of unbound PRINTER'S PROOFS. Handmade leaves subtly differing in color, weight and texture and with some variations in intensity of ink. Most likely preceding the "nearly fifty copies" (from the colophon) printed on an Albion hand press by Ward Ritchie himself. The text of the book was based on talks given at California State University at Long Beach, Occidental College and the Zamorano Club of Los Angeles and is a touching tribute to the printers of poems by Robinson Jeffers. Please note this is not the complete book. It consists of a number of 16 x 10.25" leaves, each one folded to make four pages measuring 8 x 10.25", with the exception of one which has clearly been halved to make two separate 8 x 10.25" sheets. Includes 3 sets of 8 preliminary pages (half-title, 2-page title, copyright, and dedication pages plus blanks); 2 sets of first 4 pages of text (pages 7-8 plus blanks); one 4-page set (pages 13-16); 2 sets of 4 pages (23-[24], 29-30; 2 unnumbered half leaves that appear to be pp. [25-26] and [27-28] (with pp. [26] and [28] being blanks); and 2 sets of 8 final pages (pp. 35-[38], colophon, 3 blanks). Full color where called for, i.e., on title and colophon pages and reproductions from TAMAR AND OTHER POEMS (1924), POEMS (1928), APOLOGY FOR BAD DREAMS (1930), A POEM (1937), and RHYTHM AND RHYME (1966). Altogether very good to near fine with some leaves showing light aging and foxing but many untouched by either one.
Item #55845
Price: $400.00