$1,200
Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000
Auction: February 18, 2021 10:00:00 AM EDT
London: Elkin Mathews, 1913. First edition, one of an estimated 1,000 copies printed. 24mo. (32) pp. Inscribed by Williams on front panel of original glassine dust-jacket: "Mitchell Dawson/from/Meself." Additionally signed "W.C. Williams" on front free endpaper. Original tan paper-covered boards, stamped in gilt; top edge trimmed, other edges untrimmed; original glassine dust-jacket with a few chips out of spine panel; in black cloth-covered slip case and chemise with leather spine label. A great copy of a fragile book. Wallace A2.
Mitchell Dawson (1890-1956) was a Chicago writer and lawyer and friend of Williams'. He submitted his own poetry to magazines like Poetry, The Little Review, and Others, in the 1910s. The warm and short inscription reads very much like one fledgling poet sharing his good fortune with another.
The Tempers was Williams' second book, published on September 13, 1913.