LIVES AND DEATHS OF THE POETS AND NON-POETS

St. Louis: [Privately printed], 1991. First edition. Rare, privately printed book of poetry published for her friends after she had won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for NEAR CHANGES (1990) over Anthony Hecht's THE TRANSPARENT MAN. The final poem in the volume, "Long Stretch Minimalist Sonnet IXX (for Howard)," which is pasted to the blank opposing p.28, speaks directly to her win ("You were out of town/ for the smashing surprise:/ my head's heavy disguise/ in a Pulitzer crown ..."). INSCRIBED TO FELLOW POET LAUREATE ANTHONY HECHT and wife, "For Tony & Helen, this odd collection for friends--elegies, poems, occasional verses--produced by a baffled commercial printer. Love, Mona." (Van Duyn was the country's first female poet laureate.) 30 pages; 8.5 x 11" blue, stapled paperwraps printed in brown on front cover only. Final poem pasted to last page, presumably as issued. Illustrated with photograph of a detail from Marc Chagall's "Les Plumes en Fleur" (title of poem on p.5) which is pasted to blank following the copyright page. Fine. The only other copy we locate is in the Library of Congress. Rare.