Anonymous

The Presto Family

S. l. (Buffalo, NY), The H-O Company, 1900. First Edition. First edition, n. d. (ca 1900); oblong 3 3/4 x 4 3/4; pp. [12], including text to wraps verso; white wraps, illustrated and ruled in blue, orange, and green; thin, closed cuts to tips of spine and small nicks to tope edge of back wrap; light fading and wear to wraps; illustrated with drawings; overall in very good condition. A delightful poetry booklet, it was published as an advertisement for Presto flour. The H-O company was also known for manufacturing oatmeal and farm-animal feed. It began: "O Waffles, my cat.." and told the story of a little girl Sally, who wanted to have a party. Very good .

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Book number: 002421

Catalogue: Poetry

Keywords: Flour, Advertisement, Poetry

Anson, John S.

The Common Theme

Berkeley, California, Printed for the Author by Wesley B. Tanner, 1985. First Edition. First edition, 1 of 125 copies; 10 x 8; pp. [4], 7-38, [2]; black wraps with white paper labels to front wrap and spine; letterpress on Tovil handmade paper; a few minor scratches to wraps and light wear; in very good or better condition. A wonderful compilation of poetry, it was written by UC Berkeley educator, poet, and psychologist John Anson (1936 - ) and published by the founder of Arif Press in Berkeley. Very good .

ZH BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 003682

Catalogue: Poetry

Keywords: Poetry

Balmont, Konstantin

Zvenia. Izbrannye Stikhi, 1890 - 1912 (Links. Selected Poems, 1890 - 1912)

Moskva (Moscow), Skorpion, 1913. First Edition. First edition; 7 3/4 x 4 3/4; pp. [17], 8-279, [20]; light-brown, pictorial wraps, printed and illustrated in red in a beautiful Avant-garde design; chip to tail of spine with small loss of paper; a few small nicks to fore-edge of wraps; faint, censorship stamp to back wrap; overall in very good condition. An anthology of Konstantin Balmont's (1867 - 1942) creativity, arranged in a strict chronological order by himself, it followed his path to fame - from his first tentative attempts at poetry through the first decade of the 20th century - in his own words: "From gem to gem..from verse to verse..from link to link..from one mystery to another.." One of the most renowned poets of the first generation of Russian Symbolists and a major figure of the Silver Age, Balmont was also an accomplished translator and polyglote, translating the works of numerous German, American, British, and French authors. Very good .

ZH BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 003631

Catalogue: Poetry

Keywords: Poetry, Avant-Garde

Barnes, Claude T.

Privy Dear

Kaysville, Utah, By the author. First Edition. First edition, n. d. (1930s); 5 1/4 x 3 1/2; pp. [4]; textured blue wraps, printed in black; minor wear to edges and corners; in near fine condition. An amusing and quite uncommon poem by, then, one of Utah's most published authors, it extolled the virtues of an old privy, presumably the one outside his childhood home, of which he said: "Who knows the darksome stories you could tell; Of lovely forms exposed before your gaze.." Appearing as an afterthought, the last few lines of the booklet mention that the privy still stands and that Black Widow spiders like to hide in privies and bite people. OCLC lists one copy at Brigham Young; none other in the trade. Claude Barnes (1884 - 1968) was a prolific author, lawyer, businessman, and naturalist. Near fine .

ZH BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 003866

Catalogue: Poetry

Keywords: Poetry

Blok, Aleksandr; [Illustrated by] Diodorov, Boris

Dvenadtsat. Poema (the Twelve. A Poem)

Moskva, Sovremennik, 1977. Illustrated edition; 11 1/4 x 7 1/2; pp. [10], 11-77, [1]; brick-red cloth over boards with title in gilt; numerous black and white plates; silk bookmark; minor bumps to lower corners of boards; light fading and wear to cloth; in very good or better condition. A beautiful edition of Aleksandr Blok's (1880 - 1921) controversial poem, the book's stunning plates were created by renowned graphic designer, educator, and artist Boris Diodorov (1934 - ), known for illustrating over 300 works, particularly children's books, including translations of Winnie-the-Pooh and Andersen's Fairy Tales (for the latter receiving the Grand Prix of Hans Christian Andersen from the hands of Princess of Denmark), as well as Turgenev, Tolstoi, etc. The only copy in the trade (as of June 2021). Very good .

ZH BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 002976

Catalogue: Poetry

Keywords: Poetry, Russian Revolution

Brewer, Joseph; et al

The First Anthology of Contemporary Alaskan Poetry

Anchorige, Alaska, Karen's Services, 1956. First Edition. First edition; 8 1/4 x 5 3/4; pp. [6], 1-46; textured yellow wraps, printed in blue; mimeographed title page; light wear to corners and edges and very mild age-toning; in very good condition. Compiled by the Poet's Committee of the Alaska League of Western Writers, the book contained the works of amateur poets, which had initially appeared in the Poets' Corner of the Anchorige Daily Times. Very good .

ZH BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 003771

Catalogue: Poetry

Keywords: Poetry

Chaplenko, Vasyl

Gava Isko. Virshovana Buvalshchina (Hava Isko. Poetic Adventures)

S. l. (Germany), By the author, 1949. First Edition. First edition; 5 3/4 x 4; pp. 3-84; light-brown, pictorial wraps, printed and decorated in dark brown; a small crease to upper right corner and a minor spot to front wrap; tiny nick to upper corner of title page; light, uniform age-toning; in very good condition. A lovely poetry compilation, it was written by Vasyl Chaplenko, also known as Vasyl Chaplia (1900 - 1990) - a Ukrainian author, linguist, educator, and editor. After escaping Ukraine and entering a DP camp in Germany in 1945 (?), he taught Linguistics and Ukrainian at the Institute of Modern Languages in Augsburg and was the editor of the emigre journal "Nashe zhyttia." After emigrating to the US in the early 1950s, he actively contributed to various magazines and wrote numerous articles, studies, and books on Ukrainian politics, literature, and liguistics and served as the Chairman and Professor at the Ukrainian Technical Institute of New York. Very good .

ZH BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 003178

Catalogue: Poetry

Keywords: Poetry, Emigre, Ukraine

Chatskii, Leonid

Ladia (Rook)

Berlin, Izdatelstvo E. A. Gutnova, 1922. First Edition. First edition; 5 1/2 x 4; pp. [8], 11-58, [4]; light-brown wraps, printed and decorated in purple; several light spots to wraps; scattered foxing, mostly to first and last few leaves; in very good condition. Leonid Ivanovich Strakhovskii, writing under the pseudonym Leonid Chatskii (1898 - 1963) was the son of a Senator and Governor of three provinces in Imperial Russia. In 1918, he joined and became one of the inner circle of revolutionary, founder of "Union of the Reconstruction of Russia," and President of the Provisional Government of the Northern Region Nikolai Tchaikovsky (1851 - 1926) - taking active part in the insurrection against the Bolsheviks. After escaping, first to England, Leonid settled in Berlin, where in 1922 - together with Vladimir Nabokov and Gleb Struve - founded the literary circle "Brotherhood of the Round Table," where he often sketched caricatures of the other members, including two famous ones of Nabokov as a giraffe and a sea-horse, for he claimed the latter seemed to only move his long neck, while reading in public. Chatskii would eventually emigrate to the US and then Canada, where he would continue writing and would teach at Georgetown, University of Maryland, and the University of Toronto. "Rook" was his first published poetry collection. Very good .

ZH BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 003179

Catalogue: Poetry

Keywords: Poetry, Emigre

Donchev, Anton

Godini (Years) [Signed/Inscribed by the Author to His Wife]

Sofiia (Sofia), S. n. 1926. First Edition. First edition; 7 1/2 x 5; pp. 3-16, [4]; grey wraps, illustrated in black; light age-toning and spotting to margins; a few minor spots to pages; very good condition. Cover art by Pencho Georgiev. Signed and inscribed by the author to his wife on the title page: "To Mrs. Doncheva / From the Author / 4/20/26." Anton Iliev Donchev (1883 - 1944) was a Bulgarian author and publicist, best known for his writings on occultism and the Bogomils (a Gnostic dualistic sect, which flourished in the Balkans between the 10th and the 15th centuries). This was his only book of poetry. The cover art was designed by Pencho Georgiev (1900 - 1940) - a renowned Bulgarian artist, graphic designer, illustrator, and scenographer. He studied in Paris and later, collaborated with famous Russian Impressionist Konstantin Korovin on stage design for several Russian operas. He illustrated the first works of Maxim Gorky to be translated into Bulgarian. Georgiev died tragically, at the age of 40, while working on decorating the Bulgarian National Theater for the production of "Salammbo," when he slipped and fell into an elevator shaft on the stage. Very good .

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Book number: 002585

Catalogue: Poetry

Keywords: California-Vbf, Impressionism, Poetry, Bulgaria

[Edited by] MELNIKOVA-PAPOUSHKOVA, N. F.

Antologiia Russkoi Poezii XX Stolietiia. I [Anthology of Russian Poetry of the XX Century] in II Volumes

V Cheshskoi Pragie [Prague]: Izdatel'stvo "Nasha Riech, 1920. First Edition. Softcover. First edition; 5 1/2" x 7 3/4"; pp. 71; original beige wraps; archival strip to spine; some pages with a thin line of tape to hinge; small signature of previous owner to title page; first few pages with small chips and nicks to fore-edge and corners; relatively mild creasing and spotting to margins of wraps; overall good to very good condition. A remarkable anthology, published as two consecutive, stand-alone volumes in Prague and encompassing the works of the most prominent figures of the Silver Age of Russian Poetry, many of whom by the time of the publishing had fled Russia and were living in exile throughout Europe. The first volume contained poems by Konstantin Balmont - one of the best known Russian Symbolist poets who had initially welcomed the Revolution but was soon disillusioned with the state of his country and was forced to move to Paris after refusing to collaborate with the Bolsheviks; Valerii Briusov - one of the very few of the Symbolists who chose to remain in Russia after the October Revolution; Fyodor Sologub - whom, like many of his contemporaries, had applied for permission to leave Russia in 1919 but was refused, an act which would push his beloved wife over the edge of desperation and make her commit suicide by throwing herself off the Tuchkov Bridge of the Zhdanovka River and would ultimately crush Sologub's spirit and force him to give up any thought of leaving Russia; Dmitrii Merezhkovskii - a seminal figure of the Silver Age of Russian Poetry, the co-founder of the Symbolist movement, and a nine-time nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature; Zinaida Gippius - wife of Dmitrii Merezhkovskii and one of the most revered female Symbolists, and Leo Tolstoy. The second volume, published later that same year, included works by Anna Akhmatova, Aleksandr Blok, Igor Severianin, and others. Ill.: 0. 2.

ZH BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 001134

Catalogue: Poetry

Keywords: Russian Symbolism, Emigre 0

[Edited by] Locker, Frederick

Lyra Elegantiarum. A Collection of Some of the Best Specimens of Vers de Societe and Vers D'Occasion in the English Language by Deceased Authors

London, Edward Moxon & Co. 1867. First Edition. First edition; 6 1/4 x 4; pp. [13], x-xx, [1], 2-360, [2]; handsomely rebound in blue cloth and 3/4 black morocco; five raised bands, gilt ruling, and gilt decorations to spine; gilt top edge; a bit of rubbing to leather along spine and a tiny rubbed spot to upper corner of front board; in very good condition. When published in 1867, this first edition of the compilation of famous poetry by Samuel Coleridge, Elizabeth Browning, William Thackerey, Charles Lamb, and others also contained poems by controversial author and poet Walter Savage Landor (1775 - 1864), known for frequently writing in Latin, in order to attack and critisize his perceived enemies. The book would be quickly banned and withdrawn by the publisher, for Landor's poems had been included without the permission of the copyright holder of his works - biographer and literary critic John Forster (1812 - 1876). A revised edition, with Landor's work excised, would be released later that same year. Very good .

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Book number: 003316

Catalogue: Poetry

Keywords: Poetry, Victorian, English, Banned Books

Fleischer, K. F. W.

Zur Gedachtniss-Feier Der Befreiung Russlands Von Den Feinden IM Jahre 1812" Together with "Rede Zur Nachfeier Des Hohen Geburtsfestes Des Grossfursten Und Thronfolgers Alexander Nikolajewitsch" ("on the Commemoration Festivities of the Liberation of Russia from Its Enemies in the Year 1812" Together with "a Speech on the Occasion of the Belated Celebration of the High Birthday of the Great Duke and Heir to the Throne, Alexander Nikolaevich")

Riga, s. n. 1830. Two small broadsides, 1830 and 1831; 8 x 5 and 8 1/4 x 4 3/4; off-white stock, in Fraktur; tiny nicks to lower corners; mild age-toning to margins; faint stamps "Ex Bibliot : Rigens" to upper left margin; in very good condition. Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Fleischer, pseud. Artamos, Kreopola, Thearos (1777 - 1831) was a German author, translator, educator, and actor. At various times in his career he taught at the University of Konigsberg, published a journal, titled "Der Spiegel," and performed at theaters in Konigsberg, St. Petersburg, and Riga. He also ran a boarding house in the early 1800s in Riga and wrote poetry and theater reviews. Of his current poems, the first was an ode to the liberation of Russia from the country's French invasion, known as the Patriotic War of 1812. Written during the reign of Nicholas I, it proclaimed that the spirit of his brother Alexander (in power during the war) was looking down from the starry heights, sending good luck and blessings. The second one (unsigned, but attributed to Fleischer) commemorated the birthday of the son of Nicholas I - Aleksander II Nikolaevich, later to become Emperor of Russia, known as Alexander the Liberator for his emancipation of Russia's serfs. Not in OCLC, not in the trade (as of May 2021). Very good .

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Book number: 002999

Catalogue: Poetry

Keywords: Poetry, Germany, Russia, Romanovs

Franjic, Meri

Vendor Street

Toronto, By the author, 1980. First Edition. First edition; 7 x 4 1/4; pp. [9], 12-54, [8]; pink wraps, illustrated with a portrait of the author; previous owner's manuscript note to front wrap verso; light wear to edges; in very good to near fine condition. The first poetry anthology of a Canadian-Croatian immigrant. .

ZH BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 003763

Catalogue: Poetry

Keywords: Poetry

Furnadzhiev, N. (Nikola)

Duga (Rainbow)

Sofiia (Sofia), T. F. Chipev, 1928. First Edition. First edition, 1 of 1550 copies; 7 3/4 x 6; pp. [2], 5-69, [3]; textured, off-white wraps, illustrated in blue and pink; a few spots and foxing to margins; small nicks to tips of spine; signature of previous owner to title page; very good condition. Cover art by Dechko Uzunov. Written by one of the prominent "September Four," this was the second poetry collection of poet and translator Nikola Furnadzhiev (1903 - 1968). The other three of the "September" literary group were fellow leftist authors Asen Raztsvetnikov, Angel Karaliichev, and Georgi Tsanev. They would be persecuted and convicted by the Communist Party for spreading social bourgeois mentality. The beautiful, Modernist cover art was the creation of Dechko Uzunov (1899 - 1986) - a famous Bulgarian painter, educator, and graphic artist, born in Kazanlak (this antiquarian bookseller and catalog compiler's home town). Very good .

ZH BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 002587

Catalogue: Poetry

Keywords: California-Vbf, Poetry, Modernism, Avant-Garde, Modernism

Granovskyi-Neprytskyi, Ol. (Granovsky, Alexander)

Osinni Uzory. Poezii. Tom VI" Together Wirh "Sny Zruinovanoho Zamky. Poezii. Tom VII" ("Autumn Tracery. Poems. Volume VI" Together with "Dreams of a Ruined Castle. Poems. Volume VII")

New York / Chicago, Independent Ukraine / Zhyttia i Mystetstvo, 1957. First Edition. First editions, 1 of 1500 copies each; two, stand-alone volumes, 1957 and 1964; 8 1/4 x 5 1/2 and 8 1/2 x 5 1/2; pp. 143 and 144; pictorial wraps, designed by Evhen Blakytnyi and Mykhailo Mykhalevich respectively; light wear and age-toning to edges and corners; in very good condition. Professor Alexander A. Granovsky (1887 - 1976), as he was known in the US, was a Ukrainian-American scientist, publicist, author, and full member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. He was also a pioneer entomologist, author of more than 200 scientific papers, and professor at the University of Minnesota. Orphaned at a very young age and persecuted by the tsarist authorities, he left Ukraine - first to Europe, then eventually settling in the US, where he worked in a gold mine and served in the US Army, while getting advanced degrees at several universities. Beginning to write poetry while still in school, he had his poems published at various journals, before authoring and releasing a series of 7 stand-alone volumes, part of which were the two current ones. Very good .

ZH BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 003258

Catalogue: Poetry

Keywords: Poetry, Emigre