GINSBERG, Allen (1926-1997). Howl and Other Poems. With an Introduction by William Carlos Williams. San Francisco: The City Lights Pocket Bookshop, 1956.

12mo. Original black wrappers printed in light blue with printed wrap-around paper label mounted on (light restoration along spine); morocco-backed folding case. Provenance: Stephen Dunn (1939-2021), American poet (presentation inscription, with misspelled last name and partial erasure in first name presumably by Ginsberg).

FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING with the dedication to Lucien Carr still present, the period after "Harlem" on the rear cover, and ".75 cents" printed in light blue on rear cover.

INSCRIBED BY GINSBERG WITH AN ORIGINAL DRAWING to the American poet Stephen Dunn. Soon after publication, Howl and Other Poems was seized by the U.S. Collector of Customs Chester MacPhee who was the first to deem the work as obscene, setting the stage for the much publicized trial debating the first amendment right to the freedom of speech and censorship. Number 4 in The Pocket Poet Series.