A Novelette And Other Prose (1921-1931) by WILLIAMS, William Carlos - (1932)

(Paris): TO Publishers, 1932. Softcover. Fair. First edition [Wallace A12; "about 500 copies printed"]. Octavo. 126pp. Printed wrappers. An extremely fragile publication, the delicate covers have detached on front and rear, with a number of moderate chips at extremities of covers; text is lightly browned (as usual), with slight chipping at tips of corner of last few pages of text; a fair to good only copy. The rear cover prints an announcement of future publications by this publisher, including works by Basil Bunting and Ezra Pound.

France: TO Toulon, 1932. First edition. Softcover. fair. 8vo. 126pp. Printed wrappers. One-inch to head of backstrip and one-half inch to tail of backstrip missing. Chipping to edges. Wrappers fragile. Small stamp of previous owner to back of front wrapper. Browning throughout not affecting text. An example of what Williams later called "automatic writing," his modernist "Essay on Virginia" from this edition is both a humorous survey of Virginia's geography and culture and a self-conscious reflection on the characteristics of the essay form. "(A)bility in an essay," claims Williams, "is multiplicity, infinite fracture, the intercrossing of opposed forces establishing any number of opposed centers of stillness. So the history of Virginia has gone, even more so than most of the states." Other chapters include: "The Work of Gertrude Stein," "A Note on the Recent Work of James Joyce," "A Matisse," "Marianne Moore," "A Paradox," plus others. About 500 copies printed. Wrappers in fair, interior in good… Read More

[Toulon]: [Imprimerie F. Cabasson], 1932. FIRST EDITION. An uncut and partially unopened copy in the original printed wrappers. First edition, containing several poems, essays and stories many of which were to later appear in periodicals. "While tearing around tending the sick I've composed a novelette in praise of my wife whom I have gotten to know again. . . ." [taken from an unpublished letter printed in Wallace]. Wallace, A12.

(Toulon, France): To, (1932). First Edition. Wraps. Uncut and largely unopened; typical browning to text and somewhat to covers with small loss at head of spine. Very Good and quite scarce when signed. Original pale green wraps printed in black (5-1/2" x 9"); 127, [2] pages; list of planned publications on verso of rear wrap. Wallace A12, one of approximately 500 copies. This copy SIGNED by the poet on the front endpaper in an early hand.