Artunderwraps

Annotated Reference Guide to Collectible Books and Original Prints

Frost, Robert Annotated Bibliography & Selected Collectible Books



Four-time Pulitzer Prize winner, Robert Frost, introduced readers to a new kind of poetry throughout the start of the twentieth century. Frost used a style that was more down to earth and realistic than many other poets that had gone before. This was particularly true in his adept use of American colloquialisms which confirmed him as a poet of the "common man". Although not necessarily fashionable when he first started writing, Frost always insisted on focusing upon content rather poetic style within his work.

No stranger to personal grief and turmoil, Frost's works reflected the grim realities of life. But admirers also see that, in his depictions of rural New England life, he could also introduce characters with indomitable spirit and strong personalities.

Despite his American birth, Frost's first book of poetry was published in Britain, where he lived at the time. A Boy's Will from 1913 proved to be a success for Frost and it is an extremely saleable item today. First editions, published by David Nutt of London, often reach $2,000 at auction.

Frost's writing career spanned more than fifty years during which time around 30 collections of poetry were published as well as plays and books of prose. Few of his first editions are available for less than several hundred dollars today with some of his more popular titles such as North of Boston published in 1914 realizing nearly $5,000 for a limited edition copy.

Frost has become something of a poet for the people, particularly New Englanders. His straight-forward writing style and real-life subject matter means that his work has endured well and as a result he continues to appeal today.

Frost, Robert. A Boy's Will. David Nutt, London (1913). 1,000 copies in the first printing, with multiple bindings, five in total; of the earliest binding, fewer than 350 copies were produced; contains 31 poems including:The Tuft of Flowers,October, andReluctance.

Frost, Robert. North of Boston. David Nutt, London (1914). Signed and inscribed by Frost on the front endpaper; portrait frontispiece; first printing of 1000 copies in six separate bindings, 350 in the first binding and 200 in the sixth; includes:Mending Wall andThe Death of the Hired Hand.

Frost, Robert. A Boy's Will. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1915). First printing identifiable by the erroraind instead ofand in the final line of page 14; 750 copies.

Frost, Robert. North of Boston. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1915). 150 copies of the first issue (sheets ordered directly from the British publisher, David Nutt), 1300 copies of the subsequent printing (issued by the U.S. publisher Henry Holt); the stated third edition is actually the third printing of the second U.S. edition; first state identifiable byfain instead offaint printed on the front panel of the jacket; includes:Mending Wall,Death of the Hired Man,Good Hours,Home Burial, andAfter Apple Picking.

Frost, Robert. Mountain Interval. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1916). 4000 copies in first printing, two states; first state identifiable by two errors: on page 88, the lineYou're further under in the snow – that's all is incorrectly repeated while it should read,If you think the wind / sounds further off, it's not because it's dying, and in line 6 on page 93, the wordCome is used instead ofGone; contains:The Road Not Taken andBirches.

Frost, Robert. North of Boston. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1916).

Frost, Robert. North of Boston. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1919). Portrait frontispiece of author and fourteen full-page plates by James Chapin; embossed signature of Robert Frost in gilt on front board; 500 copies printed on handmade linen-rag paper.

Frost, Robert. Mountain Interval. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1921). Contains:The Road Not Taken,An Old Man's Winter Night, andBirches; portrait frontispiece of a plaster bust of Frost; rear panel of the dustjacket contains advertisements for North of Boston and A Boys Will; first state identifiable by two errors: on page 88, the lineYou're further under in the snow – that's all is incorrectly repeated while it should read,If you think the wind / sounds further off, it's not because it's dying, and in line 6 on page 93, the wordCome is used instead ofGone.

Frost, Robert. New Hampshire. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1923). Woodcut frontispiece and 4 full-page woodcuts by J.J. Lankes; 5350 copies, 350 of which are numbered, signed and inscribed by Robert Frost; contains:Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,The Need of Being Versed in Country Things,Fire and Ice,A Hillside Thaw, andNothing Gold Can Stay.

FROST, Robert. Selected Poems. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1923). 1025 copies, including presentation copies signed and inscribed by Frost.

Frost, Robert. Selected Poems. William Heinemann Ltd., London (1923).

Burroughs, Stephen. Memoirs of the Notorious Stephen Burroughs of New Hampshire. MacVeagh, and The Dial Press, New York (1924). Preface by Robert Frost.

Frost, Robert. New Hampshire A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1924). 5 woodcuts in black and white by J.J. Lankes.

Frost, Robert. Several Short Poems. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1924). Illustrated with two woodcuts by J.J. Lankes; single sheet folded once to make a four page pamphlet printed on all sides; contains:The Pasture,Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening,The Oven Bird,An Old Man's Winter Night,The Runaway, andNothing Gold Can Stay; 2000 copies printed for distribution at Robert Frost lectures, principally at Smith College, Vassar College and the University of Maine.

Frost, Robert. North of Boston. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1927). Portrait frontispiece of the author; contains:Mending Wall,The Death of the Hired Man,Home Burial, andAfter Apple-Picking.

Frost, Robert. Selected Poems. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1928). 3475 copies, 1025 copies in the first printing; includes:The Road Not Taken,Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, andAfter Apple Picking.

Frost, Robert. West-Running Brook. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1928). Illustrated label with gilt on front cover and 4 full-page woodcut illustrations, and woodcut frontispiece by J.L. Lankes, signedL; 1,000 numbered copies signed by Frost on the limitation page; first printing identifiable by the absence offirst edition printed on the copyright page;roams erroneously appears instead ofromps on last line on page 44; includesAcquainted With The Night.

Frost, Robert. A Way Out. The Harbor Press, New York (1929). Full title:A Way Out: A One Act Play; 585 copies, 485 hand-numbered and signed by the author at the end of his preface; first appeared in Seven Arts Magazine in 1917, first separate publication.

Frost, Robert. Birches. Middlebury, VT Bread Loaf School (c. 1929) (1929). Single sheet, folded twice to form an eight-page booklet; first printing identifiable by its paper stock and larger type.

Johnston, Paul. The Poetry Quartos. Random House, New York (1929). Contributors include: Genevieve Taggard, Robert Frost (The Lovely Shall Be Choosers), Vachel Lindsay, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Louis Untermeyer, Alfred Kreymborg,H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), Elinor Wylie, Theodore Dreiser, William Rose Benet, Conrad Aiken, and Witter Bynner; edited, designed and printed by Paul Johnston; 12 hand-sewn chapbooks, each containing one poem by one poet; in a folding chemise of yellow Italian Fabriano paper; illustrations on all covers, chemise, and slipcase by Paul Johnston; first printing; 475 copies.

Frost, Robert. A Hillside Thaw. The Poets Guild, New York (1930). Individual leaf; a page from the Unbound Anthology, published in 1930 by the Poets Guild in New York.

Frost, Robert. Collected Poems. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1930). Frontispiece portrait photograph by Dorothy Ullman; 3870 copies; contains more than 100 poems, includingThe Road Not Taken.

Frost, Robert. Collected Poems. Random House, New York (1930). 1000 numbered copies; signed by Frost.

Frost, Robert. Education by Poetry. Amherst Graduates Quarterly, Amherst (1931). Full title:Education by Poetry: A Meditative Monologue; printed text of an address delivered by Frost to the Amherst Alumni Council in November 1930; printed in Amherst Graduates Quarterly No. 78 (1931), pages 75-85.

Frost, Robert. Selected Poems. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1931). Signed by Frost; includesStopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.

Frost, Robert. The Lone Striker. Alfred A. Knopf, New York (1933). Contains onlyThe Lone Striker; Number 8 of the Borzoi Chapbooks series; 2000 copies.

Frost, Robert. A Boy's Will. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1934). Woodcut by Thomas Nason, containsOur Singing Strength.

Frost, Robert. Selected Poems. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1934).

Frost, Robert. Two Tramps in Mud-time. The Spiral Press, New York (1934). Full title:Two Tramps in Mud-time: A New Poem; 775 copies, of which 175 were printed for the Melchers of Montclair.

Frost, Robert. Neither Out Far Nor In Deep. The Spiral Press, New York (1935). Woodcut by J.J. Lankes; 1235 copies, 450 with the imprint of Elinor and Robert Frost, 175 with the imprint of Ann and Joseph Blumenthal; handmade paper covers.

Frost, Robert. The Golden Hesperidee. The Bibliophile Press, Cortlandt, New York (1935). Cover illustration by Anna Moore Newton McGraw; first printing of 500 (unnumbered) copies identifiable by:Cortland, N.Y. / A on the colophon page andTwas Sunday and Square Hale was dressed for meeting, on the second to last line of page seven; all but 37 copies of the first printing were recalled by the publisher; 203 copies printed of the subsequent issue.

Frost, Robert. A Further Range. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1936). 803 numbered copies, signed and inscribed by Frost, issued 9 days before the release of the first trade edition of 4000 copies.

Frost, Robert. Collected Poems. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1936).

Frost, Robert. From Snow to Snow. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1936). Frontispiece fascimile of Frost's handwritten poem,Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening; 300 copies printed for the 25th anniversary dinner at the Hampshire Bookshop but originally printed for the National Education Associations annual superintendence convention in St. Louis; contains one poem for each month of the year (includingThe Road Not Taken and,Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening), selected by Frost from his published works.

Frost, Robert. Selected Poems. Jonathan Cape, London (1936). Introductory essays by W.H. Auden, C. Day Lewis, Paul Engle, and Edwin Muir.

Frost, Robert. To a Young Wretch. The Spiral Press, New York (1937). Woodcuts by J.J. Lankes; 820 copies, 150 copies with the Melchers imprint, 275 with the Elinor and Robert Frost imprint; sewn.

Frost, Robert. Collected Poems. Longmans, Green and Co., London (1939).

Frost, Robert. Collected Poems. Halcyon House, New York (1939). Published one month earlier than the Holt edition, but with no introduction.

Frost, Robert. COLLECTED POEMS.. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1939). Portrait frontispiece by Doris Ulmann; 3750 copies; signed by Frost; containsA Further Range and introductory essay,The Figure A Poem Makes.

Frost, Robert. Collected Poems. Halcyon House, New York (1940).

Frost, Robert. Collected Poems of Robert Frost 1939. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1941).

Frost, Robert. A Witness Tree. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1942). Frontispiece portrait of Frost in sepia by Enit Kaufman; designed and printed by Joseph Blumenthal at The Spiral Press; 735 numbered copies; signed by Robert Frost on the limitation Page.

Frost, Robert. The Guardeen. The Ward Ritchie Press, Los Angeles (1943). Facsimile of the first draft of the original manuscript of the play, which was never published; 96 numbered copies issued as aSeasons Greetings for the year 1943, a series of four Christmas cards printed for Earle J. Bernheimer; single sheet folded to make four pages and sewn into wrappers.

Frost, Robert. A Masque of Reason. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1945). First Printing; 800 numbered copies signed by Frost.

Frost, Robert. A Mood Apart. Duke University, Durham, North Carolina (1945). Together withLibrary Notes, a bulletin issued for theFriends of Duke University Library; single sheet folded to make four pages; illustrated with a photo of Frost in theRare book room of the Duke University Library.

Frost, Robert. Collected Poems. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1945). Gilt woodblock illustration stamped to front board, same woodcut illustration on dustjacket; frontispiece portrait photograph; contains the essay,The Figure a Poem Makes.

Frost, Robert. A Young Birch. The Spiral Press, New York (1946). Illustrated by Joseph Low; 3445 copies, 170 printed for Marguerite and Fred Melcher.

Frost, Robert. The Poems of Robert Frost. Modern Library, New York (1946). With introductory essay,The Constant Symbol by Frost; contains advertisements listing Modern Library books.

Frost, Robert. A Masque of Mercy. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1947). 751 numbered copies signed by Robert Frost on the limitation page; printed at The Spiral Press.

Frost, Robert. A Sermon. Victor E. Reichert, Cincinnati (1947). Chapbook containing a sermon Frost delivered on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles at The Rockdale Avenue Temple in Cincinnati, Ohio, on October 10, 1946; 500 copies; uncorrected issue withworry not crossed out.

Frost, Robert. A Sermon. The Spiral Press, New York (1947). A sermon delivered by Frost on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles at The Rockdale Avenue Temple in Cincinnati, Ohio, on October 10, 1946; 500 copies, distributed to Frost, Rabbi Victor Reichert, and Joseph Blumenthal, recalled by Frost's request; first printing identifiable by an uncorrected page 14, in later printings the wordworry on that page is struck through withmercy written above it.

Frost, Robert. Steeple Bush. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1947). 7600 copies; 751 numbered copies signed by Frost, with an onion skin wrapper and gilt illustration on front cover and slipcase.

Frost, Robert. Closed for Good. The Spiral Press, New York (1948). Wood engravings by Thomas W. Nason; 2275 copies, 175 printed for Marguerite and Fred Melcher, signed by Frost.

Frost, Robert. Complete Poems. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1949). Designed by Maurice Serle Kaplan; frontispiece portrait photograph of Frost by Clara E. Sipprell; introduction by Frost entitled,The Figure a Poem Makes; 500 numbered copies signed by Frost.

Frost, Robert. On a Tree Fallen Across the Road. The Spiral Press, New York (1949). Full title:On a Tree Fallen Across the Road (To Hear us Talk); 3060 copies, 225 with Frost's imprint.

Frost, Robert. The Complete Poems. The Limited Editions Club, New York (1950). Wood engravings by Thomas Nason; designed and printed by Bruce Rogers at the Marchbanks Press; with an appreciation by Louis Untermeyer; signed by Frost, Nason, and Rogers; two volumes; 1500 numbered copies.

Frost, Robert. Hard Not To Be King. House of Books Ltd., New York (1951). 300 numbered copies; signed by Frost.

Frost, Robert. One More Brevity. The Spiral Press, New York (1953). 4501 copies; 587 printed for Robert Frost.

Frost, Robert. Aforesaid. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1954). 650 numbered copies; signed by Frost on the limitation page;contains 66 poems and a reminiscence entitled,The Prerequisites, issued to honor Frost's 80th birthday; portrait frontispiece.

Frost, Robert. From a Milkweed Pod. The Spiral Press, New York (1954). Wood engraving by Thomas W. Nason; 5076 copies, 598 copies imprinted for Robert Frost.

Frost, Robert. Complete Poems. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1955).

Frost, Robert. New Hampshire. The New Dresden Press, Hanover, New Hampshire (1955). Title page woodcut by J.J. Lankes; 750 numbered copies; signed by Frost on the limitation page.

Frost, Robert. Complete Poems. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1959). Introductory essayThe Figure A Poem Makes by Frost; signed; contains both an index of titles and an index of first lines.

Frost, Robert. You Come Too. Henry Holt and Co., New York (1959). Full title: You Come Too: Favorite Poems for Young Readers, although the subtitle on the front cover reads,Favorite Poems for Young People; wood engravings by Thomas W. Nason including a woodcut, in green, on the front cover which is reproduced on the dustjacket; includes:One Guess,Mending Wall, andThe Pasture, as well as an excerptfrom the foreword by Hyde Cox.

Frost, Robert. Complete Poems. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York (1961). Monochrome photograph portrait frontispiece; indexed by title and first line; illustrated dustjacket.

Frost, Robert. Complete Poems. Jonathan Cape, London (1961). Bound by Frost and Co.

Frost, Robert. The Road Not Taken. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York (1961). Full title: The Road Not Taken: an introduction to Robert Frost; 131 poems selected and integrated by Louis Untermeyer; signed by Frost on front endpaper.

Frost, Robert. In the Clearing. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York (1962). IncludesThe Gift Outright, composed by Frost for the Kennedy inauguration; 1500 copies, numbered and signed by Frost.

Adams, Frederick Baldwin. To Russia with Frost. The Club of Odd Volumes, Boston (1963). Designed and printed by Joseph Blumenthal at The Spiral Press; frontispiece portrait of Frost, photographs, and two wood engravings by Thomas Nason; 500 copies.

Frost, Robert. Robert Frost's Poems. Washington Sqaure Press, New York (1973).


Comments, suggestions, corrections? Contact
feedback@artunderwraps.com
Photographs courtesy and copyright of PBA Galleries
We are an Abebooks Affiliate
We do not buy, research or appraise books.
© 2017 Dunkin Enterprises, LLC