The Poetry Library of Marie Bullock - Locus Solus Rare Books

under their Black Sun Press imprint. The binding was specially done for the Crosbys and
features their armorial emblem on front and rear covers; their leather book label is on the
front pastedown and their small sun blindstamp is one the first leaf. Pencil-lining,
presumably by Harry Crosby, thoughout. Laid in is MacLeish’s calling card with a short
pencil note on the verso. A paperclip impression has affected the card. $1,500
542. MACLEISH, ARCHIBALD. The Pot of Earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1925. First
edition. 12mo, cloth-backed pictorial gold boards. Covers rubbed. From the library of Harry
and Caresse Crosby, with their leather booklabel and ink ownership inscription — the names
“Harry” and “Caresse” forming a cross. On the rear board, an elaboration of their armorial
emblem has been stamped in black, comprising the armorial shield in a landscape,
enwreathed in a circular cloud with a black sun and moon overhead, and a foreground of
figures with books. The rear pastedown has a series of cryptic diagrams in ink. Laid in is a
clipped copy of MacLeish’s poem “In My Thirtieth Year,” which was one of Harry Crosby’s
favorites. $1,250
543. MACLEISH, ARCHIBALD. Nobodaddy: A Play. Cambridge: Dunster House, 1926. First
edition. 8vo, black cloth. Covers lightly rubbed; one small mark to front. One of 750 copies
on handmade paper (of which fifty were on large paper). Title page design by W.A.
Dwiggins. This copy is from the library of Harry and Caresse Crosby, with their armorial
emblem stamped on the rear cover and their leather booklabel on the front pastedown, and
discreet sun-shaped blindstamp to the front flyleaf; occasional pencil underlining to the text. $750
544. MACLEISH, ARCHIBALD. Streets in the Moon. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1926. First
edition. 8vo, marbled endpapers; full brown morocco, stamped in gilt. Covers scuffed on
spine and extremities, hinges starting, else fine. From a limited edition of 540 copies, this
would appear to be one of the 60 special copies on handmade paper, although it is
unnumbered. An important presentation copy, inscribed by MacLeish on the first leaf: “To
Harry & Caresse Crosby, affectionately, Archibald MacLeish, Paris.” The binding, specially
made, most likely for the Crosbys, has their armorial emblem stamped on front and rear
covers; the Crosby ex-libris, a postage stamp-sized leather label with the names “Harry” and
“Caresse” arranged as a cross, is on the front pastedown. The text bears several marginal
notes and comments in pencil throughout, ranging from simple underscorings and marks, to
lengthy references to Baudelaire and Mallarmé, and a series of rather cryptic diagrams in the
very rear. On one of the last blank leaves are lists of names and dates evidently relating to
the Crosbys’ penchant for horse racing. Harry Crosby revered MacLeish as the greatest
living poet after Eliot. Upon reading this book in 1926, Crosby announced that MacLeish had
outranked Shelley. They did not meet until the following year, but from that time until
Harry’s suicide in 1929, they remained very close. Indeed, it was MacLeish who tended to
Harry Crosby’s body and sat vigil with it at the mortuary on Caresse’s behalf. $4,500
545. MACLEISH, ARCHIBALD. The Hamlet. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, (1928). First edition.
12mo, half cloth and gilt boards, printed spine label Light toning to endsheets, covers rubbed
and modestly soiled. From the library of Harry and Caresse Crosby, with their armorial
emblem stamped in silver on the front and rear covers and their small leather booklabel on
the front pastedown. Occasional pencil lining to the text. $500
546. MACLEISH, ARCHIBALD. New Found Land: Fourteen Poems. Paris: Black Sun Press,
1930. First edition. 8vo, original white wrappers, printed in red and black. Fine and fresh in
original glassine, lightly chipped at spine, and silver paper-covered slipcase, lightly rubbed
and with slight cracking to the upper joints. One of 100 numbered copies on Hollande Van
Gelder. There were an additional 25 on Japan Vellum. $375
547. MACLEISH, ARCHIBALD. Conquistador. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1932. First edition.
8vo, cloth. Good. MacLeish’s Pulitzer Prize-winner. $20
548. MACLEISH, ARCHIBALD. Frescoes for Mr. Rockefeller’s City. New York: John Day
Company, (1933). First edition. Small 8vo, wrappers. Ownership stamp on front wrapper,
two pages slightly bent, light rubbing. $50