An exceptionally fine copy of this cornerstone of modernist poetry, arguably the single most important poem of the twentieth century. The Waste Land was originally published in the inaugural issue of Eliot's quarterly journal The Criterion in October 1922 with the present book edition following two months later on December 15.
The present copy is the correct first issue, with the number stamped approximately 5mm high on the colophon and 'mountain' spelt correctly on line 339 (p. 41), bound in black cloth over flexible boards, approximately the first 500 copies having been bound as such, with later copies bound in stiff black cloth. With the publisher's four page prospectus for the Modern Library loosely inserted.
A genuinely beautiful example. The initial gathering roughly, albeit partially, opened with thin strip torn away at head of p. iii (no loss of text), the rest of the gatherings remain completely unopened, engraved bookplate of the American poet Coman Leavenworth to the front free endpaper, just the faintest hint of partial offsetting to endpapers, single faint spot of foxing to opening three leaves, small mark to fore margin of p. 56, text block very slightly cracked at pp. 32-33, in all other respects internally clean and fresh; spine panel of jacket just a shade toned, two tiny abrasions to front panel, but otherwise virtually unworn and completely unmarked, the glassine with some trivial wear to lower edge of front panel, but still in excellent order. A really magnificent copy.
Gallup, A6.
