"FOR SHE WAS THE MAKER OF THE SONG SHE SANG": STEVENS' SECOND BOOK, ONE OF 135 SIGNED COPIES ON STRATHMORE ALL-RAG PAPER

STEVENS, Wallace. Ideas of Order. New York: Alcestis Press, 1935. Octavo, original white paper wrappers, uncut. $6500.

Signed limited first edition of the rare second book by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Wallace Stevens—"no poet gives us more to think about or greater reward for thinking"—number 109 of 135 copies signed by Stevens and printed on Strathmore Permanent All-Rag Paper (out of an edition of 165 total).

Wallace Stevens did not publish his first book of poetry until the age of 44 and did not issue his second book, Ideas of Order, for over a decade. This signed limited edition of that crucial work features his illuminating meditation on art—"The Idea of Order at Key West"—along with 32 additional poems, each the sublime expression of a body of work praised by critics as "drenched with the life of his senses. This vibrant fact forms the core of his exploration of the interplay between the mind and reality… What gives his best work its astonishing power and vitality is the way in which a fixed point of view, maturing naturally, eventually takes in more than a constantly shifting point of view could get at" (New York Times). "No poet gives us more to think about or greater reward for thinking" (New York Review of Books). Only 165 copies of this signed limited edition were issued, 135 copies for sale, 20 for presentation and ten for review. Without scarce original glassine and slipcase. Edelstein A2a. The copy of Melissa Leippert Hall, the sister of Alcestis Press editor J. Ronald Lane Latimer (born James Leippert).

Interior fine, front joint starting but intact, a couple very faint stains to spine. Near-fine condition.