First edition, first printing, the publisher's copy inscribed to him by Derleth, "To Bill McElwee, who bears stolidly with me - Cordially, August Derleth", additionally inscribed with three lines of poetry "The lost child / less than the dry leaf that blows / along the walls. May 1940". The recipient was the publisher at Ritten House, William J. McElwee. The author August Derleth (1909-1971) was a hugely prolific writer and friend of H. P. Lovecraft. This book, his third collection of poems, was published the year after Derleth founded Arkham House for the purposes of publishing works of the Cthulu Mythos (a term Derleth himself coined).
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