The Waste Land – T. S. Eliot [Scofield Thayer Copy]

The Waste Land. By T. S. Eliot. New York: Boni & Liveright, 1922.

First edition, first printing: “Of the one thousand copies printed of The Waste Land this volume is number 50”. With the promotional brochure for The Modern Library laid in. Small octavo: 1 blank leaf, 3 leaves, 9-64 pp. The signatures are uncut. In the publisher’s flexible cloth-covered boards, with gilt-stamped titles. The inner glassine wrapper and the original salmon dust jacket with black lettering are preserved without trimming or clipping. Seldom seen in such fine condition, essentially perfect.

The first copies printed have the word “mountain” correctly spelled in line 339 (page 41), whereas in later copies the “a” has dropped out. Also, approximately the first 500 copies bound have the flexible cloth binding and figures 5 mm. high in the colophon. (Gallup, A6)

Provenance: Scofield Thayer, editor and co-owner of The Dial, then by descent. Statement of provenance included.

Jointly offered with johnson rare books & archives.