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Lowell, Robert; Allen Tate [Introduction]. Land of Unlikeness. The Cummington Press, [Cummington, MA], 1944.

Price: US$2200.00 + shipping

Description: First edition. [44] pp. Bound in publisher's navy boards with red lettering. Very Good+ with typical sunned spine, a little toning to boards. The American poet's rare first book.

Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.

Lowell, Robert.. Land of Unlikeness. Introduction by Allen Tate.. Cummington (Cummington Press), 1944.

Price: US$3000.00 + shipping

Condition: Good

Description: (48)pp. Title-page woodcut by Gustav Wolf. Boards. Slightly sunned. Front board slightly scuffed. One of 26 copies on Dacian paper, numbered and signed by Lowell on the colophon, from the limited edition of 250 in all. Lowell's first book of poetry.

Seller: Ars Libri, Ltd. (ABAA), Charlestown, MA, U.S.A.

Lowell, Robert. Land of Unlikeness. Poems. Introduction by Allen Tate.. Cummington Press, Cummington, MA, 1944.

Price: US$3250.00 + shipping

Condition: Good

Description: Copy of Lowell's first wife Elizabeth Hardwick with her pencil signature on the fly leaf, one of 224 copies of a total edition of 250. Hardcover, bound in blue boards, titles to spine and front board printed in red. The spine faded, wear to spine ends and corners. The text unmarked.

Seller: Moroccobound Fine Books, IOBA, Lewis Center, OH, U.S.A.

Lowell, Robert. Land of unlikeness. Introduction by Allen Tate. Cummington Press, [Cummington, Massachusetts], 1944.

Price: US$3750.00 + shipping

Description: Edition limited to 250 copies (this one of 224 on Brook and unsigned); 8vo, pp. [44]; title page printed in blue, red, and black with a woodcut design by Gustav Wolf; original blue paper-covered boards lettered in red; spine and edges sunned; all else near fine. From the library of Kim Merker. This is Lowell's first book. Richmond 16.

Seller: Rulon-Miller Books (ABAA / ILAB), St. Paul, MN, U.S.A.

Robert Lowell. Land of Unlikeness. Poems. Introduction by Allen Tate.. Cummington Press, Cummington, MA, 1944.

Price: US$4000.00 + shipping

Condition: Near Fine

Description: One of 224 copies of a total edition of 250. Hardcover, bound in blue boards, titles to spine and front board printed in red. Very light edge-wear, two minor blemishes rear board, else unmarked. Laid in are three snapshots dated on the verso "Nantucket 1938," two of Lowell and Bill Clark "celebrating beards," the other of Lowell, Bill Clark, and Blair Clark.

Seller: Moroccobound Fine Books, IOBA, Lewis Center, OH, U.S.A.

LOWELL, Robert. Land of Unlikeness. Poems. Introduction by Allen Tate. Cummington Press, (Cummington, MA), 1944.

Price: US$4000.00 + shipping

Description: 8vo, title-page woodcut by Gustav Wolf, original blue boards without printed dust jacket as issued. Very small spot of faint discoloration on the back cover, otherwise a very fine copy of a book rarely seen without the almost inevitable fading to the spine, in a cloth folding box. Very small spot of faint discoloration on the back cover, otherwise a very fine copy of a book rarely seen without the almost inevitable fading to the spine, in a cloth folding box First edition of Lowell's scarce first book. One of 250 copies printed.

Seller: James S. Jaffe Rare Books, LLC, ABAA, Deep River, CT, U.S.A.

LOWELL, Robert.. Land of Unlikeness.. Cummington, Massachusetts: Cummington Press, 1944, 1944.

Price: US$4223.52 + shipping

Description: First edition, first printing, of Lowell's first book of poems, one of 250 copies, notably uncommon in the original glassine, especially so in such fine condition. The poems were written between 1940 and 1944, while the author was studying in Louisiana and Tennessee. "Lowell at that time converted to Roman Catholicism, influenced by Gerard Manley Hopkins, Etienne Gilson, and other Catholic writers and philosophers, and impelled as well by his dark moods and what his wife termed 'fire-breathing righteousness'. This religious conversion strongly shaped the character of his first two books of poetry" (ANB). The Cummington Press was a small letterpress owned and operated by Harry Duncan (1916-1997), "considered the father of the post-World War II private-press movement" (Newsweek, 16 August 1982). The press's first book, Incident on the Bark Columbia, appeared in 1941, printed on a hand printing press at the Cummington School of the Arts; the press went on to publish editions of Tennessee Williams, Wallace Stevens, and Marianne Moore, typically with print runs of fewer than 500 copies, continuing to operate until Duncan's death in 1997. Octavo. Original blue boards, spine and front cover lettered in red, buff endpapers. With original glassine jacket. Housed in a custom purple quarter morocco slipcase and chemise. Woodcut to title page by Gustav Wolf printed in pale blue, text printed in black and red. Spine lightly rubbed, spot of wear to ends, ownership inscription to front free endpaper sometime erased, contents otherwise clean. A near-fine copy in fine glassine.

Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom

Robert Lowell. Land of Unlikeness. Cummington Press, 1944.

Price: US$4500.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: First book by Lowell and it has the rare dust jacket. The book is a strong very good while the d/j a weak veryy good. D/j is ripped on top and shows some soiling. The spine of the d/j is blank but someone has pencilled Robert Lowell on it. Overall a very nice copy in the difficult fold your own dust jacket.

Seller: Culpepper Books, Tacoma, WA, U.S.A.

Robert Lowell. Land of Unlikeness (With the Ownership Signature and Bookplate of Poet Robert Duncan). The Cummington Press, Cummington, MA, 1944.

Price: US$5000.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: The 1944 original printing of Robert Lowell's first published book, limited to 250 copies. THIS COPY BELONGING TO POET ROBERT DUNCAN, WHO SIGNED HIS NAME ON THE FRONT FREE ENDPAPER AND WHOSE WILDLY DECORATIVE 1945 BOOKPLATE (SHARED WITH AND UNDOUBTEDLY DESIGNED BY HIS PARTNER JESS COLLINS) ADORNS THE FRONT PASTEDOWN. A solid, presentable copy to boot. Clean and VG in its dark boards, with light offsetting along the panel edges, limited, very light blotching to the rear panel and its usual (in this case mild) fading along the spine. Introduction by Allen Tate. Also includes a handsome, custom-made chemise and printed slipcase, with its gilt-titled, dark-leather label along the spine.

Seller: APPLEDORE BOOKS, ABAA, WACCABUC, NY, U.S.A.

LOWELL, Robert. LAND OF UNLIKENESS. Cummington Press, (Cummington, MA), 1944.

Price: US$6250.00 + shipping

Description: Publisher's blue boards stamped in orange, title page printed in red and black with woodcut in blue by Gustav Wolf. Introduction by Allen Tate. Lowell's first book, limited to a total of 250 copies printed. This is Copy #11 of only 26 on Dacian paper SIGNED by the author on the limitation page. Allen Tate, in his introduction to this collection, tempers his praise with a fair assessment of Lowell's current stature and potential, heralding a lasting presence in American poetry: "The history of poetry shows that good verse does not inevitably make its way; but unless, after the war, the small public for poetry shall exclude all except the democratic poets who enthusiastically greet the advent of the slave-society, Robert Lowell will have to be reckoned with." Two years later, Lowell would win the Pulitzer Prize for LORD WEARY'S CASTLE, at the age of 30. Slight fading to boards, moreso to the spine which has a couple of small tears, one neatly repaired. Very Good and scarce

Seller: Charles Agvent, est. 1987, ABAA, ILAB, Fleetwood, PA, U.S.A.

LOWELL, Robert. Land of Unlikeness. The Cummington Press, (Cummington), 1944.

Price: US$7500.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: First edition. Blue printed papercovered boards, lettered in red. Introduction by Allen Tate. Woodcut by Gustav Wolf. Light rubbing to the crown, spine a little faded, with two very small spots, and a small, light smudge on the front board, lacking the original unprinted glassine dustwrapper. A nice, very good copy of a fragile volume, and internally fine. This copy Inscribed by Lowell to Stanley Hyman, important American literary critic, and husband of the novelist Shirley Jackson: "For Stanley Hyman From Robert Lowell With Great Respect." The author's first book. One of 224 copies of a total edition of 250. An important title and a keystone of American poetry.

Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.

LOWELL, Robert. LAND OF UNLIKENESS Inscribed to Randall Jarrell. Cummington Press, (Cummington, MA), 1944.

Price: US$12500.00 + shipping

Description: Publisher's blue boards stamped in orange, title page printed in red and black with woodcut in blue by Gustav Wolf. Housed in a half blue morocco leather slipcase. Introduction by Allen Tate. Lowell's scarce first book, limited to a total of 250 copies printed. INSCRIBED and SIGNED by the author on the front free endpaper to poet Randall Jarrell: "For Randall/with affection and admiration/and no apologies for dogma,/Cal." Lowell was nicknamed Caligula at preparatory school, and the diminutive "Cal" stuck with him throughout his life. Lowell and Jarrell met at Kenyon College, where they were roommates, and became lifelong friends, each providing valuable criticism of the other's work. In 1965, Lowell eulogized the friend who had been one of two beneficiaries of his will: "Randall Jarrell was the only man I have ever met who could make other writers feel that t heir work was more important to him than his own." Along with the copies Lowell presented to John Crowe Ransom--at the University of Texas--and Allen Tate--in a private collection--this is one of the three most compelling association copies imaginable. Allen Tate, in his introduction to this collection, tempers his praise with a fair assessment of Lowell's current stature and potential, heralding a lasting presence in American poetry: "The history of poetry shows that good verse does not inevitably make its way; but unless, after the war, the small public for poetry shall exclude all except the democratic poets who enthusiastically greet the advent of the slave-society, Robert Lowell will have to be reckoned with." Two years later, Lowell would win the Pulitzer Prize for LORD WEARY'S CASTLE, at the age of 30. Small ink date of 1944 at the bottom right corner of the title page, likely in Jarrell's hand. Mild sunning to the spine which has a small, neat repair at the head; lacking the plain tissue dustwrapper. Near Fine in a Fine box

Seller: Charles Agvent, est. 1987, ABAA, ILAB, Fleetwood, PA, U.S.A.