Seattle, WA: Mill Mountain Press, 1971. First edition. Slim octavo in violet wrappers, with titling and illustrations offset printed in black and pink. Collating 56, [1]pp; with illustrated title page following an illustrated portrait of the author. Inscribed by publisher Irving Broughton on the front endpaper to poet Richard Eberhart and his wife: "Dick + Betty, A first book for first people / All wishes, Irv Broughton / May 28, 1972." Gentle sunning to spine and extremities, text edges slightly dusty. Near Fine.

The noted experimental poet's first book, involving strange tall tales and recurring characters, rivers, and a constant focus on death. Broughton, publisher of Mill Mountain Press, met Stanford in June, 1970, at the Hollins Conference on Creative Writing and Cinema, where he read Stanford's work and agreed to publish his first book. The two spent much of 1972 traveling through the South and New England, where together they interviewed and filmed Malcolm Cowley, John Crowe Ransom, and Richard Eberhart, who offered them his cottage on Cape Rosier. The present copy was inscribed during this brief period, where the group spent time filming and touring the coast together on Eberhart's yacht. An important debut, and a tremendous association. Near Fine (Item #4000)