The Wasteland
by Eliot, T.S
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
San Anselmo, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York. Boni and Liveright. 1922 Gilt titled black cloth over flexible boards. 8vo. First Edition,First state with "Mountain" correctly spelled on page 41. Universally recognized as the single most important poetical work of the 20th Century, the first edition of the Wastland was limited to a printing of 1,000 numbered copies, 500 of which were in the "first state" or first run of the press. This copy is a "bastard" or un-numbered copy. There are few titles of modern literature which surpass the magnitude of collectibility and historical significance of this masterwork. A very rare copy. Cover is the slightest bit dusty, minor offset to prelims, chipping to several page edges due to poor cutting (not affecting text), Spine cracked but firm.
Synopsis
The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot is one of the most famous poems of the 20th century and is 434 lines long, divided into 5 sections: The Burial of the Dead, A Game of Chess, The Fire Sermon, Death by Water and What the Thunder Said. Considered obscure and often abstract, the poem interweaves a number of legends and mythologies of both eastern and western influence in a variety of voices. Originally published in the 1922 issue of The Criterion (a U.K. magazine which was founded and edited by Eliot), it later appeared the subsequent month in the Dial magazine as its first U.S. appearance. The Wasteland first appeared in book form in 1922, published by Boni and Liveright in New York in an edition of 1000 copies. The first 500 copies were bound in a flexible black cloth, while the remaining copies were bound in a more traditional cloth hardcover. Both were issued in beige printed dust jackets. The first state is noted by the appearance of a dropped letter "a" on page 41 in the word mountain; the second issue has the word misprinted as "mount in." In nice condition, the first issue might be had in a jacket for $25,000 and up. The first U.K. book edition was published the following year in the U.K by Hogarth Press in an edition of 450 copies . Also of note is the second NY edition on 1923, also published by Boni and Liveright and highly collectible. - -
Reviews
On Dec 13 2016, a reader said:
This was the "let there be light" moment for 20th Century poetry. The intellectual chiropractic it worked on literature obliterated that bequeathed to us thereafter. Poetry became the moral spotlight. And one man made it happen.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Heldfond Book Gallery, ABAA-ILAB
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 6200
- Title
- The Wasteland
- Author
- Eliot, T.S
- Format/Binding
- Gilt titled black cloth over flexible boards.
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Boni and Liveright.
- Place of Publication
- New York.
- Date Published
- 1922
Terms of Sale
Heldfond Book Gallery, ABAA-ILAB
The Heldfond Book Gallery is an elected member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers and conforms to all ethical codes and standards of those organizations.Books found to be materially mis-described may be returned within seven days of receipt and all monies will be promptly refunded, if returned to us in the same condition as sent.
About the Seller
Heldfond Book Gallery, ABAA-ILAB
Biblio member since 2005
San Anselmo, California
About Heldfond Book Gallery, ABAA-ILAB
Located just accross the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County, California - the Heldfond Book Gallery, Ltd. is one of the oldest and most esteemed Rare Bookstores on the West Coast. Specializations include: Illustrated Books in all disciplines, Fine Bindings and Sets, Important Literary First Editions,Fine Arts, Collectable Children's Illustrated Books, Illuminated Manuscripts and Incunabula,Rare Aviation and Maritime as well as a consistently superb inventory of General Antiquarian Materials.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Poor
- A book with significant wear and faults. A poor condition book is still a reading copy with the full text still readable. Any...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Offset
- A technique of printing where the inked image or text is ...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Chipping
- A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Cracked
- In reference to a hinge or a book's binding, means that the glue which holds the opposing leaves has allowed them to separate,...
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