The Gates of Wrath, Rhymed Poems: 1948-1952

Bolinas: Grey Fox Press, 1974 With a prefatory letter from Ginsberg to William Carlos Williams. First edition, first issue. Signed and inscribed by Ginsberg on the title page: "Allen Ginsberg / For Ron Benham." Publisher's purple wrappers, with black and white photo taken by Ginsberg to front wrapper, lettered in white. Near fine, with light rubbing to spine. Overall, a firm, clean copy, with poems from a young Allen Ginsberg. The Gates of Wrath gives an early look into Ginsberg's development as a poet, featuring metered and rhyming poems from the poet when he was in his early twenties. Some of the poems in the collection, like "Please Open the Door and Let Me In," "Sweet Levinsky," and "Stanzas: Written at Night in Radio City," were sent by Ginsberg to fellow Paterson, NJ native William Carlos Williams in 1949 (Ginsberg's accompanying letter is included in this volume, in which he writes, " … I would like to make my presence in Paterson known to you, and I hope you will welcome this from me, an unknown young poet, to you, an unknown old poet, who live in the same rusty county of the world."). Williams went on to mentor Ginsberg and help him find his spontaneous and free verse style, typified in his masterpiece, "Howl" (1956). . Inscribed by Author. First Edition. Original Wrappers. Near Fine.