If It Would All Please Hurry. A Poem. Etchings & Engravings by Stephen Riley

Amherst: Shanachie Press, 1980. First edition. One of only 10 lettered copies reserved for the author and artist (this being copy "J") out of a total edition of 35 copies produced, of which 25 roman-numeraled copies were for sale; all copies were signed by the poet and the artist, with each of the original prints also numbered and signed in the margin by the artist. Presentation copy, inscribed by both Tate and Riley to Stanley Wiater, the man who brought the poet and artist together. Riley's inscription reads "For my friend Stan - fellow bibliophile, confidant, taster of the fantastic and esoteric, to whom in large part the very existence of this suite is due. With thanks - Stephen Riley / 1 September 1980." Tate's inscription reads: "For Stan, without whom it wouldn't have . . . because of whom it has. Horror of horror - with friendship, Jim Tate." Stephen Riley, who illustrated and published If It Would All Please Hurry was a young artist in his twenties, who died not long after the portfolio was published. Stanley Wiater is a writer of horror fiction, who attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in the Seventies. According to Wiater, the edition fell short of its stated limitation, which would account for its rarity on the market. Portfolio lightly soiled, otherwise a very fine copy, perhaps the most desirable copy, of Tate's rarest publication. (RILEY, Stephen).. Folio, with 10 original etchings & engravings (6 full-page) on Arches Cover White paper, loose sheets in folding box. Portfolio lightly soiled, otherwise a very fine copy, perhaps the most desirable copy, of Tate's rarest publication.