[Roycroft Press- One of Only Two Copies Printed and Grant Wood] The Bibliomaniac, A Wail From One of Them

East Aurora: Roycroft Press, 1908.

First Edition. 8vo, (6 x 4 3/4 inches). Full suede with pressed suede title space, gilt lettering, green silk, moire silk pastedowns. One of only two copies, with limitation page: ìOf this edition only two copies were printed of which this is ìNo. oneî (in red ink). Contains Samuel Warnerís ìinverted-Lî floral printed title page border. ìPrattís ëWailí is a humorous poem on domestic hazards of book collecting. Prior to the recent discovery of ìA Myth (1907),î a closely related title with striking similarities to this volume, little was known about Pratt or his poem. There is now reason to speculate that these two titles were in some way associated with Grant Woodís art colony at Stone City, Iowa, to which copies of both title have been traced. Pratt may have written both poems, commissioned their production by Roycrofters, and presented them as gifts to some unknown person in Iowa, perhaps to an ancestor or relative of a Stone City Resident.î Ogle, David, ìOn a High Shelf, pg 220, OB-136-08. The Stone City colony is discussed in Darrell Garwoodís ìArtist in Iowa,î 1944. Near fine. Of great rarity.

Price: $2,500.00   Item #6530