A SONG AND A DIARY FOR A.

(New York): (Adventures in Poetry), 1973. Near fine.. Lettered copy of the doubly signed limited first edition of Elliott's debut, with a cover illustration of a burning cruciform box by Edward Gorey. Gorey and Elliott, a writer described by Fagin as "completely off the radar screen" when these prose pieces were published, shared a connection in John Ashbery: Elliott's unhappy former co-worker at the Brooklyn Public Library, who first met Frank O'Hara at an exhibition of Gorey's paintings. Elliott, a close friend of Paul and Jane Bowles and a fellow resident with them in the February House, the short-lived Brooklyn artist's commune, was for Ashbery the best thing about working at the library, introducing the younger poet to Bowles, Mary Butts, and Jean Rhys, among others (Roffman). Elliott died in 1974, only a year after this first book publication; his other works were written variously under his own name and the pseudonyms Richard Fields, Richard Hotchkiss, and David Martin. A great copy, published by Larry Fagin's Adventures in Poetry imprint. 11'' x 8.5''. Original side-stapled pictorial wrappers by Edward Gorey. Mimeographed text. [60] pages. Edition of 26 lettered copies signed by author and artist; this copy no. U, signed by Elliott and Gorey at colophon. Light soil/toning to wrappers, minor edgewear.