Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Hart Crane; Walker Evans. The Bridge [Japanese Vellum, Signed]. The Black Sun Press, Paris, 1930.
Price: US$15000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: One of 50 copies on Japanese Vellum, signed by Hart Crane. Contents completely fine, a very fresh copy. Covers generally bright and clean (see photos), but the spine tips are dulled where the glassine is also worn. There is a professionally repaired thin paper-split down the spine, now manifesting as a crease (see photo). During the repair, thin paper reinforcement was added underneath, so that the book can now be laid open flat -- and actually enjoyed. The book is also now supported by a thick mylar wrap, which makes it easier to handle. A modernist highspot at a very attractive price.
Seller: Blue Sky Rare Books, Palm Springs, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$27500.00 + shipping
Description: Quarto, original white printed wrappers. Expert restoration to the paper on the spine, otherwise a bright, fresh copy with all tissue guards present; original glassine replaced; enclosed in a new slipcase. Copy number 30 of only 50 copies printed on Japan Vellum, signed by Crane. There were an additional 200 copies in the regular issue. One of the most important American poetic works of the twentieth century as well as a significant collaboration between writer and photographer. The Bridge, called "cubism in poetry" when it was initially reviewed in The New York Times, stands as one of the great epics of 20th-century poetry. Cyril Connolly writes that of the poems "some of them. are near perfect and the whole allegory a masterpiece of neo- romanticism" (The Modern Movement, p.62). Its publication was initiated when Crane met Harry and Caresse Crosby on his trip to Europe in 1929. After reading drafts of "The Bridge", they agreed to publish a limited edition under their Black Sun imprint. Crane took up residence in an old mill on the estate of the Conte de la Rochefoucauld which the Crosby's had made into their weekend retreat. Crane hoped to finish the poem that summer, but was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct and briefly incarcerated in July. Crosby brought Crane's return ticket to the U.S. In December, he and his wife visited Crane in New York. A few days after their visit, Harry committed suicide. Despite her husband's death, Caresse Crosby returned to Paris to see The Bridge through the press. Numerous changes, mostly minor, were incorporated in the American edition, which appeared three months after the first. [Schwartz & Schweik A 2].
Seller: Thomas A. Goldwasser Rare Books (ABAA), CHESTER, CT, U.S.A.
Crane, Hart. The Bridge. Horace Liveright, New York, 1930.
Price: US$30000.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First American edition, preceded by the Paris edition published by Black Sun Press. Signed by Hart Crane on the front free endpaper. Bound in publisher's original dark blue cloth ruled in blind, with titles in gilt on spine and upper board. Near Fine with sunning to cloth at spine and edges, a few light scratches to the boards, light loss to corners and spine ends heaviest at the crown. Pages toned and with a few short edge tears to pages. A work that has critics divided to this day, with some claiming it to be Crane's best work and a masterpiece of American Modernism.
Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Price: US$30000.00 + shipping
Description: One of 50 copies on Japanese Vellum, signed by Crane. Quarto, original white printed wrappers, with original glassine cover and gilt paper covered slipcase (slipcase slightly rubbed, 1-inch piece missing from bottom edge). A beautiful copy of one of the rarest and most important books of twentieth century poetry, and the first book publication of Evans's work, it was illustrated with three gravures printed actual size from his 1-3/8 inch by 2- 1/2 inch photos.
Seller: Thomas A. Goldwasser Rare Books (ABAA), CHESTER, CT, U.S.A.