Signed Twice by the Author, and with a Grateful Letter Laid in

A GUIDE TO THE FOUR-CHAMBERED HEART.

HAINES, JOHN. (LARKSPUR PRESS).

(Monterey, Kentucky: Larkspur Press, 1996). 232 x 145 mm. (9 1/8 x 5 3/4"). 2 p.l., 35 pp., [2] leaves (blank, colophon). FIRST EDITION. No. 126 OF 450 COPIES on Mohawk Letterpress (and 50 on dampened Johannot paper).

Publisher's maroon buckram, flat spine lettered in gilt. In original illustrated dust jacket. With nine illustrations by Joy Haines. SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR on the half-title; signed by the author and illustrator on the title page; autograph letter from the author laid in. One small, round stain to the lower edge of the dust jacket, otherwise an immaculate copy.

This fine press edition of Haines' poems was a gift from the author to a fellow poet. Artist and writer John Haines (1924-2011) wrote, in the Poetry Foundation's words, "poems. . . noted for their stark, spare imagery, and evocative rendering of the brutal beauty of his adopted home" of Alaska. "A Guide to the Four-Chambered Heart" was produced by the Larkspur Press in Monterey Kentucky, which focuses on fine hand press printing; the present edition is strikingly illustrated and set in Eric Gill's Joanna type. This copy is accompanied by a letter from Haines to friend and fellow poet Laure-Anne Bosselaar (b. 1943) dated August 31, 1996, in which he discusses his upcoming residence in Provincetown and the gift of this book: "I wanted you to have a copy in part for all your efforts on my behalf. The book has been in progress for a year, but we are very pleased with the results. I hope you also are pleased with it.". (ST20338-019)

Price: $150.00