"THIS BALLAD STILL AWAITS A TIGER-HEARTED BARD": SIGNED LIMITED FIRST EDITION OF TIPOO'S TIGER, ONE OF ONLY 26 COPIES SIGNED BY MARIANNE MOORE AND ORIGINALLY DESIGNATED "NOT FOR SALE"

MOORE, Marianne. Tipoo's Tiger. New York: Phoenix Book Shop, 1967. Oblong octavo, sewn as issued, original printed blue paper wrappers; ll. 6. $800.

Rare signed limited first edition of this beloved poem, letter "R" of only 26 lettered copies (out of a total edition of 100) signed by Marianne Moore and designated "not for sale" on the limitation page.

Marianne Moore based "Tippoo's Tiger" on a monograph by Mildred Archer held at the Victoria & Albert Museum. The monograph related to Tipu's Tiger, an 18th-century mechanical toy created for Tipu Sultan, the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in India. The toy comprises a tiger, a European man (being attacked by the tiger), and a small pipe organ (hidden in the tiger's side). While Moore submitted two versions of the poem to The New Yorker and was promptly rejected, she went on to find a publisher—after editing the poem—at The Phoenix Book Shop. The poem has come to be well-regarded.

Fine condition.