NY: Liveright, 1976. Large octavo; xv, 218pp.; purple cloth, gilt spine titles, front panel blindstamp. First edition thus. Introduction by Richard S. Kennedy. Edited and with an afterword by George James Firmage, who has signed, dated, and inscribed the front endpaper.
Tulips and Chimneys was Cummings’ first book of verse, published by Thomas Seltzer in 1923 in an edition that contained only 66 of 152 intended poems, the rest of which were deemed too startling or experimental. This Liveright edition presents for the first time the entire 1922 manuscript of Tulips & Chimneys, along with the 34 poems published in 1925 as & (a title referencing Cummings’ displeasure with Thomas Selzer’s decision to replace the ampersand in his book’s title with the word "and"). The inscription by Firmage, Cummings’ longtime friend and bibliographer, reads: "To Mum— The first in the new series on publication day. With all my love always, your son George."
Very good (spine ends softened, light sunning to board edges, musty odor) in like, unclipped jacket (crumpling & wear at head of spine, three short closed tears along top edge of rear panel). A touching association copy of the first volume in Liveright’s "The Cummings Typescript Editions," based on the typed and autograph manuscripts in Harvard’s The Houghton Library.
