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NOTE: Most of the books below are listed on Alibris at: http:///www.rmgerberbooks.alibrisstore.com
or on Amazon (for titles published after 1970).
Items recently added = NEW; Signed items = *
LAST UPDATED SEPTEMBER 1, 2018
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Braving the Elements. New York: Atheneum, 1972. Second printing. Cloth: fine. Dust jacket: stain on spine, soiling, but otherwise near fine. (ID: 5327) $50.00 . SOLD dealer 8/31/19
Braving the Elements. New York: Atheneum, 1972. Fine cloth volume. Dust wrapper: spine edges sunned, with a few small chips and two small closed tears, otherwise near fine. (ID: 5091) $45.00
The Changing Light of Sandover. A Poem. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Fine hard cover in fine dust wrapper. First Knopf Edition. (ID: 5428) $70.00 SOLD 7 20 18
Collected Novels and Plays. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. As new hard cover in as new dust wrapper. Very small red remainder dot on lower edge. (ID: 6136) $22.00
Collected Poems. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001. Edited by J.D. McClatchy and Stephen Yenser. Second Printing. Fine hard cover in Mylar-protected fine dust wrapper. (ID: 5610) $20.00
The Country of a Thousand Years of Peace and Other Poems. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1959. Fine hard cover in Mylar-protected near fine to fine dust wrapper. (ID: 5429) $200.00
The Country of a Thousand Years of Peace and Other Poems. New and Enlarged Edition. NY: Atheneum, 1970. First Revised Edition. Soft cover. Slightest of wear to edges and tips, light foxing to fore-edges. (ID: 5347) $20.00
*The Country of a Thousand Years of Peace and Other Poems. New and Enlarged Edition. New York: Atheneum, 1970. Third Printing. Merrill’s second book of poems. Inscribed and signed (“With love to Charles, from Jimmy 1990”) on title page. (“Charles” is Hellen Ingram Merrill Plummer’s friend Charles Crawford) Lt. foxing to edges, tiny dent to lower edge, very light edge/tip wear, 1” coffee stain to lower right corner of pages. (ID: 6200) $45.00
The Country of a Thousand Years of Peace and Other Poems. New and Enlarged Edition. New York: Atheneum, 1970. Merrill’s second book of poems. Lt. foxing to upper edges, tiny dent to lower edge, very light edge/tip wear, o/w near fine soft cover. Name/date ffep. (ID: 6145) $15.00
The (Diblos) Notebook. A Novel. New York: Atheneum, 1975. Soft cover with very light edge wear, otherwise fine. (ID: 9026) $22.50
*A Different Person. A Memoir. New York: Knopf, 1993. Fine hard cover in fine dust wrapper, signed by Merrill on the title page. Pristine copy. (ID: 9017 *) $180.00
*A Different Person. A Memoir. New York: Knopf, 1993. Fine copy in fine dust wrapper, signed by Merrill on the title page. Beautiful volume. (ID: 5466 *) $180.00
*A Different Person. A Memoir. New York: Knopf, 1993. Hard cover, fine; dust jacket price clipped, but otherwise fine. Inscribed, dated, and signed by the poet. (ID: 9003*) $130.00
A Different Person. A Memoir. New York: Knopf, 1993. Fine cloth volume. Dust wrapper is very good to near fine. (ID: 9016) $20.00
A Different Person. A Memoir. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Soft cover, slightest of wear to lower front tip, otherwise as new. (ID: 5349) $10.00
Divine Comedies. Poems. New York: Atheneum, 1980. Near fine to fine hard cover with slight fading to edges. Near fine to fine dust wrapper with very small chip at upper corner. (ID: 5400) $90.00
Divine Comedies. Poems. New York: Atheneum, 1980. Good to good plus soft cover. Splatters to top edge, several splatters to fore-edge, but interiors tight and clear. Edge/tip wear. (ID: 9041) $30.00
The Firescreen. New York: Atheneum, 1969. Slight sunning, otherwise fine soft cover. (ID: 9060) $45.00
*First Poems. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1951. Number 986 of 990 copies printed. Inscribed, dated, and signed by Merrill on the title page. Light tanning to endpapers, gilt slightly faded, but unopened/unread. Dust wrapper is near fine to fine with slightest bit of wear to tips and spine ends. A really beautiful copy of Merrill’s first regularly published book. In protective Mylar. (ID: 6066) $375.00
First Poems. New York: Knopf, 1951. Number 761 of 990. Mylar-protected. Hard cover: fair plus; 1" chip rear cover, chips to spine top and bottom; several spots front cover; faded gilt on spine; interiors neat, clean, unmarked; dust jacket: 1/2 chip spine, chip rear, closed tear front; otherwise good plus. (ID: 9009) $75.00
From the Cutting Room Floor. With the Shades of William Carlos Williams, Marianne Moore, Elvis Presley, Gertrude Stein, Miranell, Maria Mitsotáki, Robert Morse, Wallace Stevens and The Angel Michael. Fine, in hand sewn wrappers. Omaha: Abattoir Editions/University of Nebraska, Omaha, 1983. Limited Edition. Number 268 of 290 hand-sewn rust-colored wrappers. (ID: 5089) $75.00 Alibris
*From the First Nine. Poems 1946-1976. New York: Atheneum, 1984. 3rd printing. Hard cover, fine; dust jacket tiniest bit of wear to spine top and bottom, otherwise fine. Signed by the poet on the title page. (ID: 9004*) $150.00 SOLD 3/9/16
From the First Nine. Poems 1946-1976.New York: Atheneum, 1982. Hard cover: slight bump to right front corner, light soiling to white board edges, otherwise fine. Dust wrapper: Two very small chips, closed tears to front and back edges, otherwise near fine. (ID: 9015) $80.00
*From the First Nine. Poems. 1946-1976, New York: Atheneum, 1982. Fine soft cover. Signed. (ID: 5427*) $125.00
*Hellen’s Book,see “Upon a Second Marriage,” below.
*The Image Maker. A Play in One Act. [New York] Sea Cliff Press, 1986. Hard cover, fine, Mylar-protected. No dust jacket, as issued. Signed by the poet. One of 220 copies, of which this copy is out of sequence, lettered B/P. Laid in is a tri-fold promotional piece from Sea Cliff Press advertising the book with an excerpt on one leaf. (ID: 9018*) $145.00
“The Immortal Husband,” in Playbook. Five Plays for a New Theater. New York: New Directions, 1956. Also includes plays by Lionel Abel, Robert Hivnor, Junjo Kinoshita, and I. A. Richards. Near fine hard cover with very light tanning in price-clipped very-good dust wrapper with small chips. In protective Mylar. (ID: 5611) $30.00
The Inner Room. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988. As new soft cover. (ID: 5408) $15.00
The Inner Room. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988. As new soft cover. (ID: 5461) $15.00
The Inner Room. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988. Fine hard cover in fine dust wrapper. As new. (ID: 5401) $45.00
The Inner Room. Poems by James Merrill. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988. Uncorrected Proof. Review copy, with typewritten note with The New Republic logo to “Dear Jonathan,” dated 15 August [1988], and signed Leon (Leon Wieseltier, literary editor of The New Republic since 1983). The review that subsequently appeared was Helen Vendler’s “In Praise of Perfume,” in the April 3, 1989, issue of TNR. Notice about the book is stapled to ffep (also has rust mark from a paper clip]. Blue covers tanned at spine and edges, paperclip mark on front, o/w near fine. (ID: 6053) $50.00
Last Poems. Prospectus. With an Introduction by J. D. McClatchy and Photography by Mariana Cook. New York: Thornwillow Press, Ltd., n.d. Mint condition. Wrappers as issued, hand tied. Rare prospectus for Merrill’s Last Poems. (ID: 9012) $25.00
Late Settings. New York: Atheneum, 1985. Fine hard cover. Dust wrapper is lightly sunned at spine, slightest of wear to spine top/bottom. (ID: 5406) $45.00
Late Settings. New York: Atheneum, 1985. Fine hard cover in fine dust wrapper. Pristine. (ID: 9052) $55.00
Late Settings. New York: Atheneum, 1985. Soft cover with slight crimping to corner of front cover, otherwise near fine to fine. (ID: 2383) $15.00
*Late Settings. New York: Atheneum, 1985. First Edition. Near fine hard cover with foxing to fore-edge. Near fine, Mylar-protected dust wrapper with light sunning to spine and ¼” chip to bottom spine. Signed twice. An association copy warmly inscribed, signed (“Jimmy”) to family friend Charles Crawford. Dated 1985, the year of its publication. Also signed ("James Merrill") on the title page. (ID: 6146; http://www.rmgerberbooks.alibrisstore.com) $90.00 NEW
*Late Settings. New York: Atheneum, 1985. First Edition. Fine hard cover in near fine, Mylar-protected dust wrapper with light sunning to spine and ¼” chip to bottom spine. An association copy warmly inscribed, signed (“Jimmy”) to family friend Charles Crawford. Dated 1985, the year of its publication. (ID: 6146) $100.00 *Merrill, James. Late Settings. New York: Atheneum, 1985. First Edition. Fine hard cover in fine, Mylar-protected dust wrapper. A beautiful, bright association copy warmly inscribed, signed (“James Merrill”) and dated on the half-title to American-Canadian composer and violinist Malcolm Goldstein (1936- ). The inscription notes that the book was signed “in this gorgeous setting….Hildene” [Robert Todd Lincoln’s summer home, in Manchester, Vermont] in June 1985, the year of its publication. (ID: 117-101) $125.00*Marbled Paper. Riverside, CA: Printed for Charles Seluzicki Fine Books, Salem, Oregon, at the Rara Avis Press, Spring 1982. Edition of 200 copies. Illustrations taken from photographs of funeral masks unearthed by Heinrich Schliemann at Mycenae. Signed. (ID: 9053*; http://www.rmgerberbooks.alibrisstore.com) $125.00 . NEW
*Metamorphosis Of 741. Pawlet, Vermont: Banyan Press, 1977. Limited Edition on Arches. Number Number 251 of 440. Signed and inscribed by Merrill on the limitation page to bookseller Andrew Nottman in 1985. Fine, in white deckle edge stiff covers. In the publisher’s envelope (printed: “Pawlet 4: Metamorphosis Of 741 by James Merrill.“) Envelope has 2” closed tears at flap corners. (ID: 6102) $300.00
*Mirabell: Books of Number. New York: Atheneum, 1978. Fine volume. Crease on front flap, otherwise fine dust jacket. Signed by the poet on the title page. (ID: 5400) $95.00
Mir Poets. Number Eleven. Dorset: Words Press, 1988. Limited Edition, #94 of 200. Near fine stapled wrappers. (ID: 9058) $40.00
Mir Poets. Number Eleven. Dorset: Words Press, 1988. Limited Edition, #97 of 200. Near fine stapled wrappers. (ID: 9059) $38.00
Nights and Days. New York: Atheneum, 1969. 4th Printing. A few poems have underlining and notes. Slight edge/tip wear, otherwise good to good plus reading copy. (ID: 5088) $7.00
A Scattering of Salts. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995. Posthumously published. Cloth, as new, in as new dust jacket. (ID: 5330) $45.00
A Scattering of Salts. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995. Hard cover. Owner’s name on ffep and light fading to cover edges, otherwise fine. Dust wrapper, fine, as new. (ID: 5404) $40.00 . SOLD dealer 8/31/19
A Scattering of Salts. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995. Uncorrected Proof. In wrappers, as issued, with staples in front cover, otherwise fine. (ID: 5405) $45.00
A Scattering of Salts. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995. Uncorrected Proof. In wrappers, as issued. Staples in front cover, otherwise fine. (ID: 5462) $45.00
*Scripts for the Pageant. New York: Atheneum, 1980. Hard cover, fine. Dust jacket: Some wrinkling back cover, near fine. In protective Mylar. Signed by Merrill on title page. (ID: 5368*) $125.00.
*Scripts for the Pageant. New York: Atheneum, 1980. Fine hard cover. In Mylar. Signed by Merrill on the title page. (ID: 9017*) $175.00
Scripts for the Pageant. New York: Atheneum, 1980. Very light foxing to side and bottom edges, o/w very good plus hard cover. Dust wrapper has light edge wear, one tiny chip, one small closed tear, o/w very good. (ID: 6015) $25.00
Selected Poems. 1946-1985. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994. (0679747311) Crimp to upper right hand corner and very light edge/tip wear, o/w near fine soft cover. (ID: 6139) $15.00
*Souvenirs. New York: Nadja, 1984. Fine copy. First edition, quarto, in apple green wrappers, as issued. In protective Mylar. Number 106 of 200 signed copies (226 printed). Signed by Merrill on the limitation page. (ID: 5655) $130.00
Two Poems. From the Cupola andThe Summer People. London: Chatto and Windus/The Hogarth Press, 1972. The Phoenix Living Poets. Small residue of sticker on front pastedown, otherwise near fine to fine hard cover. Dust wrapper has several very small closed tears (one 1” tear on front flap edge), price clipped, but otherwise very good plus. (ID: 6016) $30.00
*“Upon a Second Marriage,” in Hellen’s Book, edited by Mark Magowan, with the assistance of Robin Magowan and Doris Merrill Magowan. Privately printed by the Magowan Family Foundation, 1991. Signed by Hellen Ingram Merrill Plummer. One of 300 copies; Merrill/Ingram family photos. Very light foxing to white board of spine/1-½ inch of cover, slight fading to top front cover. [Inscribed “For Charles Crawford with love Hellen” on the title page. (ID: 6065) $300.00
Voices from Sandover. Privately printed for the author, New York, 1988. A Dramatic Adaptation for Screen, printed wrappers, 48 pages, stapled. Adapted from Merrill’s long poem, “The Changing Light at Sandover.” Fine. Also includes program for presentation of Voices from Sandover, with music by Bruce Saylor, at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, on May 23 and 24, 1989, a dramatic reading with Merrill, Leah Doyle, and Peter Hooten. The very scarce program is one of probably about 600 copies printed for the Guggenheim’s 285-seat Peter B. Lewis Theater. The program has some tanning, three light stains/spots, and a crease from having been folded, o/very good. (ID: 5463) $150.00 SOLD
Vol. XLIV, No. 3. Sea Cliff, NY: Sea Cliff Press, 1991. 5 x 7 broadside printed at Bembo Typographic Company, Chelsea, NY, for the subscribers and friends of the Sea Cliff Press, December 1991. Fine. (ID: 5376) $125.00
Water Street. New York: Atheneum, 1962. Bright, clean cover, slightest of edge wear. Small stains half title, fore-edges of first several pages, otherwise near fine. Tight, clean, unread. (5369) $70.00.
Water Street. New York: Atheneum, 1962. Soft cover first edition. Very light tanning, a bit of foxing, but tight, clean, unread. (ID: 5401) $100.00
Water Street. New York: Atheneum, 1973 (1962) Soft cover, 4th printing. Gift inscriptions on half-title, but otherwise as new; unread. (ID: 9021) $20.00
Water Street. New York: Atheneum, 1973 (1962) Soft cover, 4th printing. Name & date on half-title, but otherwise as new; unread. (ID: 6146) $20.00
Water Street. New York: Atheneum, 1973. Soft cover, 4th printing. Near fine, with slightest bit of tip wear. Lt. foxing on upper edges. Name/date on ffep. Unopened. (ID: 6160) $15.00
Water Street. New York: Atheneum, 1973. Soft cover, 4th printing. Good plus, with a bit of tip wear. Light splatter on front cover, light stain (coffee?) to 2” of pages 39 to rfep. Unopened. Reading copy. (ID: 6199) $10.00
The Yellow Pages. Cambridge, MA: Temple Bar Bookshop, 1974. Wrappers, issued simultaneously with hard cover. Limited edition: One of 850, of which 50 were hard cover. (ID: 5125) $50.00
The Yellow Pages. Cambridge, MA: Temple Bar Bookshop, 1974. Wrappers as issued. Limited edition. One of 850, of which 50 were hard cover. Faint imprint of paperclip on half title and title pages. Publisher’s return label laid in. (ID: 9011) $40.00
[Merrill, James] Analekta 1924-1954. An Anthology of Amherst Undergraduate Writing. Privately printed. Northampton, MA, 1954. Near fine in green printed wrappers as issued. Contains two poems (“The Broken Bowl” and “The Black Swan”) by Merrill. Also includes a poem by Richard Wilbur (“War Aces”), among others. (ID: 9061) $45.00
BIOGRAPHY/CRITICISM
[Merrill, James] Hammer, Langdon. James Merrill. Life and Art. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2015. [ISBN: 9780375413339] Fine (as new) hard cover in Mylar-protected fine dust wrapper. First edition, first printing. (ID: 6463; http://www.rmgerberbooks.alibrisstore.com) $25.00 NEW
[Merrill, James] Moffett, Judith. James Merrill. An Introduction to the Poetry. New York: Columbia University Press, 1984. NF/NF. Tiniest bit of edge/tip wear to covers; dust wrapper is similar, with a bit of sunning to front cover edge. Unopened. In Mylar. (ID: 6147) $25.00
*[Merrill, James] Vendler, Helen. Last Looks, Last Books. Stevens, Plath, Lowell, Bishop, Merrill. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010. As new hard cover in as new dust wrapper. Signed by Vendler on the title page. Includes postcard announcing Vendler’s lecture, “Wallace Stevens: American Poet,” Sunday, 8th Annual James Merrill Lecture, June 10, 2012 and newsletter from the James Merrill House. (ID: 6187) $50.00
*Merrill, James] Vendler, Helen. The Music of What Happens. Poems, Poets, Critics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988. Near fine hard cover with Colony Club bookplate front pastedown, white label rfep; in very good to very good plus dust wrapper with light wear to edges and tips. Signed on title page. Essays on Merrell, Seamus Heaney, Sylvia Plath, Amy Clampitt, Jorie Graham, Rita Dove, among others. In Mylar. (ID: 6168) $40.00
EPHEMERA
[Merrill, James] Poetry. James Merrill. A Memorial Issue. September 1995. Vol. 566, No. 6. Light smudge to rear cover, otherwise near fine in wrappers as issued. (ID: 5424) $20.00
[Merrill, James] Poetry. James Merrill. A Memorial Issue. September 1995. Vol. 566, No. 6. Light fading to spine, otherwise fine copy, in wrappers, as issued. (ID: 6017) $25.00
[Merrill, James]James Merrill, Poet. An Exhibit of Printed Materials and Manuscripts Drawn from the Modern Literature Collection of Washington University Libraries. St. Louis: Washington University, 1985. Exhibit brochure. Wrappers, as issued; crease lower left front edge, mild sunning at edges, otherwise near fine. (ID: 5331) $25.00
[Merrill, James, translator] Cavafy, C. P. Four Poems. Translated by James Merrill. [West Chester, PA} Aralia Press, 2008. Foreword by Rachel Hadas. Limited to 220 copies. Bound in marbled paper over boards with a cloth spine and a printed spine label. 16 pages. Fine. (ID: 9025) $125.00
[Merrill, James] James Merrill. The Voice of the Poet. Read by the Poet. Edited by J. D. McClatchy. New York: Random House, 1999. Audiotape. Unopened. (ID: 5425) $25.00
[Merrill, James] James Merrill. The Voice of the Poet. Read by the Poet. Edited by J. D. McClatchy. New York: Random House, 1999. Audiotape. Unopened. Small tear to cellophane wrapper. (ID: 5426) $23.00
[Merrill, James] Broadside: A Different Person. A Memoir by James Merrill. Broadside, 10-1/2” x 16”, two-color. With quotation from the memoir in red, photo of Merrill by Rollie McKenna. (ID: 6198) $25.00
[Merrill, James] Broadside. 20” x 16”. Promotional broadside from the publisher (Alfred A. Knopf) for Merrill’s The Inner Room, reproducing “Arabian Night, and featuring a small photo of Merrill by Jim McHugh. Poster colors: cream, grey, green, and peach. “Pleasure of Poetry/Words That Make a Difference.” Fine. Unframed. (ID: 5491) $50.00
*[Merrill, James] Undated (late 1990s) Christmas Card. Sent to Charles Crawford from Hellen Ingram Merrill Plummer, JM’s mother, signed in red ink “Hellen,” with a small red heart. Merrill’s poem “Christmas Tree” is printed in green ink, with red star, on gold-edged 6”x9” cream colored stationery. There is a very slight crease, upper left-hand corner. The text forms a full tree, whereas Merrill’s shaped poem, written in 1995 when he knew he was dying, was printed with the left half of the tree missing. (ID: 6067) $100.00 . SOLD dealer 12 5 17
*[Merrill, James] Christmas card and envelope. 4” x 5-1/2” envelope is addressed to “Charles” [Crawford] and underlined. The card, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is “Peace and Joy” (the original postcard was by [Adolfine]Valerie Petter, 1881-1963; Frohe Ostern! [“Happy Easter,” though this is a Christmas card). The handwritten note reads, “Dear Charles – Nuts and a jingle – you’re really over-doing it! But both are delicious + greatly appreciated. Here is your comparatively uninspired CHRISTMAS TIE, which I ought to have stitched myself, though if I had you’d never want to be seen in it…Love always, Jimmy” (ID: 6068) $200.00 SOLD . dealer 12 5 17
Last updated 8/20/13; 7/17/14; 9/21/15; 4/16/16 mjl
