LANDSCAPES OF LIVING & DYING

New York: [Printed from the type at the Press of A. Colish for] New Directions Books, 1979. No. 125 OF 200 COPIES. 228 x 152 mm. (9 x 6"). 4 p.l., 57, [1] pp., [1] leaf.
Original quarter black cloth over marbled boards, smooth spine with gilt lettering. Housed in a tan paper slipcase (sunned, but in still in excellent condition). SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR on the limitation page. In near mint condition, with just a breath of rubbing to extremities.

A copy from the library of two significant American poets, this is a pleasing edition of the work of arguably the most celebrated of the Beat writers. Political activist, popular writer, widely read poet, important publisher, and owner of San Francisco's City Lights Bookstore, Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919-2021) was a central part of the Bay Area Beat scene. He published Allen Ginsberg's "Howl," and was subsequently arrested for doing so, before being acquitted in the famous 1957 obscenity trial. He found inspiration for his writing in a wide range of subjects, including politics, Classical literature, and jazz. "Landscapes of Living & Dying" includes verses ranging from the humorous ("San Jose Symphony Reception") to profound ("An Elegy to Dispel Gloom," written following the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk). This edition is one of several books printed for New Directions at the Press of A. Colish in the late 1970s. The press was founded by Abraham Colish (1882-1963), who had worked his way up from printer's devil at a Bridgeport, Connecticut, press to composing room foreman for the great Bruce Rogers, before opening his own fine printing workshop in New York City in 1907. His press did work for the Limited Editions Club from the 1930s through the 1980s and was employed by the Grolier Club, the Typophiles, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and others to produce fine press books. This volume comes from the library of Laure-Anne Bosselaar (b. 1943) and her husband Kurt Brown (1944-2013). Bosselaar is a Belgian-American poet, translator, and editor who has published numerous works of poetry in multiple languages, including five collections of her own works. She has received various prizes and recognitions (Pushcart, Isabella Gardner, Breadloaf) and was named Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara in 2019. Sometimes publishing jointly with Bosselaar, Brown was also a prolific poet and editor of anthologies, as well as the founder and first director of the Aspen Writer's Conference, playing a pivotal role in shaping its early vision and establishing Aspen as a literary center..