The Double Dream of Spring by ASHBERY, John - 1970

N. Y.: E. P. Dutton & Co, 1970. First edition, first issue. "The publisher has stated at different times that 1600 ... or 1798 hardbound ... copies were published ... approximately 50 copies of the hardbound edition were defective and had to be destroyed. As of March 1975, the publisher was unable to account for 471 copies of the hardbound edition." Kermani A17a. Presentation copy, inscribed by Ashbery to Daisy Aldan, editor of Folder: "for Daisy with love John 2/9/70". With the original invitation to the book's publication party at Gotham Book Mart on February 9, 1970, laid in. Sometimes described as "neo-classical," the classicism here is more an arbitrary arrangement of surfaces than an essential aesthetic quality, although the characterization also suggests the growing ease and self-confidence with which Ashbery commands his avant-garde procedures. Including such celebrated poems as "Soonest Mended" and "Sortes Vergilianae", The Double Dream of Spring concludes with the icy grandeur of "Fragment. A fine copy in slightly rubbed jacket with two short closed tears and some minor wear to the top edge. 8vo, cloth-backed boards, dust jacket. A fine copy in slightly rubbed jacket with two short closed tears and some minor wear to the top edge.