KODAK - LIMITED EDITION, SIGNED

Philadelphia: Middle Earth Books, 1972. First Edition. A well-preserved copy of one of Smith's earliest works - one of three chapbooks published the same year that Seventh Heaven, her first full-length book, was published by Telegraph Books. This collection of poems was published by the Philadelphia-based bookshop Middle Earth Books, founded in 1969 and owned by Samuel and Sims Amico. Their shop, located at 1134 Pine Street, was a hub for the underground literary and arts scene, hosting readings as well as embarking on a publishing venture. In a 1995 interview, when A.D. Amorosi asked Smith about the significance of Middle Earth Books, she replied: "If it wasn't my first reading, it was the first out-of-town thing because I was living in New York at the time, which made it very exciting. Like a first job...I was 22 and Robert Mapplethorpe and I were living together...in the Chelsea Hotel and he took the Polaroid for the cover. Didn't make any money (laughs) but just the thrill of seeing one's work, that someone thought it worthy of printing..." (Sly, Margery. Blog post: "Patti Smith at Middle Earth Books." March 31, 2022). The most elusive and desirable of Smith's early books, uncommon in commerce. OCLC notes 10 holdings. One of 100 numbered copies signed by the author, this being copy no. 48. Slim octavo (21.5cm); offset printed sheets, hand-sewn into pictorial card wrappers; [20]pp. Light wear to wrapper extremities, mild touch of separation between rear pastedown and inner rear wrapper; contents fresh; Near Fine.