The Song of the Wandering Aengus
W.B. Yeats; illustrated by Anthony Rice.
Atlanta: The Pynyon Press, 1978. Quarto. Japanese stab-bound, handset in Van Dijck, and printed on handmade paper by Robert Tauber. Mildly creased wraps, light dampstain extending out from the inner corners affecting all the interior pages, two small dash marks on the front cover, else fine. 2 pages. One of only fifty copies, signed and initialed by Rice below the etching. Good.
The hand-colored etching is a stunner, depicting a blue faced Yeats with head on fire, a green fish leaping above him. Its exceptional rarity compensates for the less than ideal condition. OCLC identifies seven copies held by institutions, no other copies on the market. A beautiful fine press offering featuring an other-worldly poem.
"Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun."