The Sonnets.
United Artists, 1982. Item #3568
Blue cloth over boards with printed dust jacket. Jacket drawing by Louise Hamlin. Frontispiece drawing by Joe Brainard. The autograph colophon by Berrigan reads "This special limited edition of 20 hardbound copies, numbered 1 thru 20, signed by the poet and cover artist, & containing a hand-written sonnet, excluded from this final (trade) edition, copied in by the poet. This is #1 of 20." Signed by Berrigan. This copy includes "Sonnet XX" in the poet's hand and is also signed by the poet. Louise Hamlin has not signed this copy (see note below).
Berrigan's bibliographer, Aaron Fisher, writes: "According to Lewis Warsh, the original plan was to publish a limited edition of 20 books. During the course of a misunderstanding, Berrigan took all copies of the limited edition, later returning 10 unsigned copies. Thus, while there are 20 copies of the limited edition, only 10 have been signed by Berrigan and include a holograph poem. Louise Hamlin does not recall if she signed any of the limited edition." (Fischer, p. 56.)
The book is near fine with some rubbing to the foot of the boards. The jacket is very good plus with mild toning and with light wear to extremities.
Price: $2,000.00