AN ISLAND SHEAF.

DOTY, MARK.

(New York: Dim Gray Bar Press, 1998). 235 x 110 mm. (9 1/4 x 4 1/2"). [14] leaves. FIRST EDITION. No. 95 OF 125 COPIES. SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR on the limitation page.

Vellum-backed patterned paper boards by Campbell-Logan Bindery, spine lettered in gilt. In a pale green buckram slipcase. Printed in black and green. As new.

This is an attractive small press publication of poems by National Book Award-winning poet and essayist Mark Doty (b. 1953). The Poetry Foundation writes that Doty is known for his "syntactically complex and aesthetically profound free verse poems, odes to urban gay life, and quietly brutal elegies to his lover." In "An Island Sheaf," he meditates with a rosy sympathy on the people and things he encounters, discussing in turn his Cuban exile neighbors in New York, a caged bird, and a soda can. These poems were set in Joanna Monotype by Michael and Winifred Bixler and printed by Barry Magid of the Dim Gray Bar Press. Magid (b. 1949), a psychiatrist by profession and book collector by passion, began printing after taking a letterpress class at the New York Center for Book Arts. From 1989-2001, the Gray Bar Press issued 30 works, primarily modern poetry. (ST20338-026)

Price: $150.00