The Fish

(Seattle: John & Karen Sollid for Mr. David Ishii, 1974). First edition, first impression, and the first separate printing of this poem. One of only 12 numbered copies signed by the poet. First published in 1940 in Partisan Review & subsequently in Bishop’s first collection, North & South (1946), “The Fish” was one of Bishop’s earliest and most successful poems. Robert Lowell praised the poem, along with “The Rooster”, in his 1947 review of North & South as “the best poems that I know of written by a woman in this century”. MacMahon records that David Ishii, a bookseller and fisherman, commissioned this unauthorized printing in anticipation of Bishop delivering the Roethke Memorial Reading in May 1974. While in Seattle, she signed 12 copies: “Seven copies were distributed; five remain in the possession of Mr. Ishii. One unsigned copy belongs to the printer. None are for sale”. Although OCLC records no locations for the broadside, Vassar College Library and the Carter Burden Collection at the Pierpont Morgan Library each have a copy. MacMahon, Appendix II McMahon “Appendix II, Unauthorized Printing”, pp. 210-211. Many years later the publisher’s five retained copies came on the market and sold quickly; the present copy is one of them, as attested by documentation from a Seattle bookseller. We have only handled two copies, one in 2004, another in 2011. The last copy sold for $9,000.00. A mutilated copy with very faint signature is currently on the market at a deeply discounted price. A very fine copy of Elizabeth Bishop’s rarest title, framed and glazed. Extremely rare. Broadside poem, 13" x 9" A very fine copy of Elizabeth Bishop’s rarest title, framed and glazed. Extremely rare.