[POETRY] STEVENS, Wallace; Wightman Williams, illus

Esthétique du Mal [one of forty signed copies]

Cummington, Massachusetts: The Cummington Press, 1945. First, Limited Edition. Deluxe issue, one of only 40 copies signed by both Stevens and illustrator Wightman Williams, with Williams' designs hand-colored throughout, from a total edition of 340 copies. Octavo (9-3/4"); black dyed calf over hand-painted paper-covered boards; [24pp]; illus. Ownership signature of José Rodriguez Feo to front endpaper, dated 1946 (see note below). A subtly restored copy; rear cover has been re-lined with painted paper to match the original design, with additional archival repairs to paper at lower front board. Moderate toning and soil to covers; scattered internal foxing; Very Good.

The copy of Cuban critic, poet and translator José Rodriguez Feo, with whom Stevens maintained a well-documented friendship that was carried on almost entirely through correspondence (the two having met only twice, briefly, in person). These letters were preserved and later published under the title Secretaries of the Moon: the Letters of Wallace Stevens & José Rodríguez Feo (Beverly Coyle & Alan Filreis, eds; Durham: 1986). Collected in that volume is a letter dated May 10, 1946, in which Feo writes to Stevens acknowledgin receipt of this copy: "All the admiration and longing for a more personal friendship could be expressed by my telling you how delighted and grateful I am to you. Reading, caressing (it almost comes to that) your marvelous "Esthétique" has been a benediction. What a perfectly balanced little volume; what a delicate reunion of printing, drawing, and poetry..." (Secretaries of the Moon, p.83). An excellent association copy of a true Stevens rarity; in this limitation, the book has been recorded at auction only twice in the past half-century. EDELSTEIN A10.

Price: $5,000.00

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