O'HARA, Frank (poems); ASHBERY, John (introduction); ALLEN, Donald (editor)

The Collected Poems of Frank O'Hara

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1971. First Edition. First Printing. Octavo (26cm); second binding in beige linen, titled in gilt on spine, with O'Hara's name embossed onto covers; light blue topstain; dustjacket; xxx,[2],3-586,[6]pp, with a portrait frontispiece of O'Hara. While not explicitly marked as such, this copy is from the library of noted poet, translator, and anthropologist Nathaniel Tarn (1928-2024), with a few passages in the introductory matter lightly marked or underlined by him in pencil. Spine ends gently nuded, touch of dustiness to lower board corners; Near Fine. In the second issue dustjacket (typographic, not the suppressed pictorial version designed by Larry Rivers), unclipped (priced $17.50), with some light wear and mild creasing to extremities; Very Good+ or better.

A substantial volume, which attempted to provide "a reliable text for all the poems Frank O'Hara published during his lifetime – in individual volumes and in anthologies and periodicals – together with all the unpublished poems he conceivably would have wanted to see in print" (p.v). The book includes a generous five-page introduction by O'Hara's friend and contemporary John Ashbery. The Collected Poems shared the National Book Award for Poetry in 1972 with Howard Moss's Selected Poems. 85565.

Price: $375.00

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