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The following
titles are only a few items culled from our collection. For a complete
listing of our titles available for purchase, please click
here. Please note that in addition to rare and small press books,
we also maintain a general collection of common books.
CANADIAN
FICTION
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MacLeod,
Alistair. Island: The Collected Stories, Toronto:
McClelland & Stewart, 2000. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine.
SIGNED BY MACLEOD. #004554. $110.00 CAD ($85.00 USD) |
| MacLeod,
Alistair. No Great Mischief, Toronto: McClelland
& Stewart, 1999. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. SIGNED
BY MACLEOD. #002690. $110.00 CAD ($85.00 USD). |
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| Martel,
Yann. Self, Toronto: Knopf Canada, 1996. First
Edition. Near Fine/Fine. Hardcover. INSCRIBED BY MARTEL on title-page
to a Canadian non-fiction writer and poet. Black boards in white
and purple jacket. Discreet ownership signature on endpaper,
otherwise fine in similar jacket. The inscription reads: "To
---, / With Best Wishes, / Yann Martel / Montreal / 27/6/96."
Author’s first novel. Author’s second novel, Life
of Pi, won the Booker Prize in 2002. #003989. $325.00 CAD ($250.00
USD) |
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INTERNATIONAL
FICTION
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Amis,
Martin. Money: A Suicide Note, London: Jonathan
Cape, 1984. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. Black
cloth over boards in black jacket. A handsome copy with light
lean to spine, creasing to laminate on jacket. #003035. $160.00
CAD ($120.00 USD) |
| Coetzee,
J. M. Disgrace, London: Secker and Warburg,
1999. First Edition. Fine/Fine. Hardcover. SIGNED BY COETZEE
on title-page. True first, printed by Biddles. Winner of the
Booker Prize in 1999. Black cloth over boards with gold lettering
on spine, maroon endpapers, pictorial jacket. Slight lean to
spine, otherwise fine in fine unclipped jacket. Scarce. #002663.
$660.00 CAD ($500.00 USD) |
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Lawrence,
D. H. Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Privately
Printed, Pirated Edition, 1928. Hardcover. Very Good. Number
126 of 1500 copies. Brown covers, 365pp. Many pirated editions
of this book were published: this is an early one, printed in
the same year as the legitimate edition. Pencil mark on front
cover, yellowing to edges and endpapers, binding professionally
restored. A fun item. #004628. $260.00 CAD ($200.00 USD) |
CANADIAN
POETRY
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Birney,
Earle. The Strait of Anian: Selected Poems,
Toronto: The Ryerson Press, 1948. First Edition. Hardcover.
INSCRIBED BY BIRNEY to fellow Canadian poet. Sky-blue boards
in sky-blue jacket. Slight lean to spine, yellowing to edges,
subtle musty scent. Jacket with darkening to edges and spine,
and minor chipping to ends of spine. #001085. $125.00 CAD ($95.00
USD)
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Giguere,
Roland. Yeux Fixes (ou l’ebullition de l’interieur),
Montreal: Editions Erta, 1951. First Edition. Original Wraps.
Near Fine. INSCRIBED BY GIGUERE to fellow Canadian poet. Number
142 of 150 stamp-numbered copies, out of a total edition of
180 hand-printed copies. Cover image by Gerard Tremblay. The
1950s was a highly productive period in Canada for small presses.
Publishers, writers, and artists collaborated to experiment
with different printing and binding techniques (letterpress,
silk-screening, off-set printing). This book is a fine example
of the type of work that emerged from that period. There was
recently a commemorative exhibition for Giguere and Erta at
the National Library of Quebec. A very nice copy with darkening
to spine. #001075. $395.00 CAD ($300.00 USD)
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Henault,
Gilles. Illustrations by Albert Dumouchel. Totems,
Montreal: Editions Erta, 1953. First Edition. Original Wraps.
Near Fine+. First book in the Collection de la Tete Armee series.
Number 218 of 250 copies printed on Zephyr paper, out of a total
edition of 335. Contains 4 original prints by Henault, including
the green dustjacket. The Collection de la Tete Armee was a
collaborative project between publishers, poets and artists
in the 1950s, a highly influential period for small presses
in Canada. Light soiling to back cover, rubbing to spine, one
word written in pen on second page, otherwise fine. #001100.
$200.00 CAD ($150.00 USD)
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Layton,
Irving and Louis Dudek and Raymond Souster. Cerberus,
Toronto: Contact Press, 1952. First Edition. Very Good. Original
Wraps. SIGNED BY ALL THREE CONTRIBUTORS, LAYTON, DUDEK and SOUSTER.
Brown card covers with black illustration and red lettering.
Contains 20 poems each by Souster and Dudek, and 21 poems by
Layton. The title alludes to the mythical three-headed dog,
Cerberus, guardian of the Greek underworld. In this, the first
Contact Press book, the authors announce themselves as the guardians
of the new poetry in Canada. A very nice copy with edgewear,
two creased corners (front cover and title-page), half-inch
tear at base of spine, back endpaper partially detached from
rest of binding. Important Canadian book. #001681. $1300.00
CAD ($1000.00 USD)
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| McGee,
Bob. Three Dozen Sonnets and Fast Drawings,
Montreal: Vehicule Press, 1973. First Edition. Original Wraps.
Fine. The very first publication of Vehicule Press, a Canadian
small-press. Brown card covers, lime-green title-page, stapled
binding. A fine copy. #003633. $100.00 CAD ($75.00 USD) |
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Nowlan,
Alden. The Things Which Are, Toronto: Contact
Press, 1962. First Edition. Wraps (issued simultaneously with
hardcover). Very Good/Very Good. 1 of 250 copies. Ownership
signature on endpaper, small stain at head of spine of covers
and jacket. Also darkening to spine of jacket and light soiling.
A nice copy. #001093. $260.00 CAD ($200.00 USD)
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Purdy,
Alfred W.. Emu, Remember!, New Brunswick:
Fiddlehead Poetry Series, 1956. First Edition. Chapbook. Very
Good. INSCRIBED BY PURDY to a fellow Canadian poet. Several
corrections to text, as usual. Ownership signatures of Avi Boxer,
a late Montreal poet, on inside cover, and Max Layton, the son
of Canadian poet Irving Layton, on back-cover; some foxing to
edges of covers, one faint pen-mark, otherwise nice. #001070.
$120.00 CAD ($90.00 USD)
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Souster,
Raymond. Poets 56: Ten Younger English-Canadians,
Toronto: Contact Press, 1956. First Edition. Original Wraps.
Near Fine. Number 7 of 100 numbered copies, this copy once belonged
to the late Canadian poet Avi Boxer, one of the book’s
contributors. The other contributors are Marya Fiamengo, William
Fournier, Daryl Hine, D.G. Jones, Jay MacPherson, John Reeves,
Mortimer Schiff, Peter Scott and George Whipple. Important early-Contact
Press production. The book’s introduction is Souster’s
response to a letter by Louis Dudek that asked of the Canadian
poetry scene: “But where are the young? Where is the “new”
generation?” This anthology was Souster’s response
to that question; he writes: "What follows is a representitive
(sic) group of the younger generation, to the best of my knowledge
all under thirty and only one of them with a book already published.
... Whether these poets and their poems will leave their mark
on Canadian poetry we’ll leave to time and the critics
to decide. What seems more important is that they be given the
opportunity, meagre and provisional as it is, to be heard."
Green card covers with "Poets 56" printed on it and
binding that consists of two brass clips. Fading to edges due
to high acid content of paper, occasional tiny chip, pages clean
and uncreased. A particularly attractive copy, given the cheap
quality of its production. Very scarce. (Another copy in lesser
condition also available from Montreal Books for $450.00). #001106.
$790.00 CAD ($600.00 USD) |
INTERNATIONAL
POETRY
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Ford,
Charles Henri. Silver Flower Coo, New York:
Kulchur Press, 1968. First Edition. Near Fine. Original Wraps.
INSCRIBED BY FORD on front free endpaper. Press-release tipped-in.
Original silver photographic wrappers, depicting a collage by
Ford photographed by Peter Fink at Andy Warhol’s Union
Square Factory. Inscription reads: “For Marc, business
is pleasure. Charles (Charles Henri Ford).” One corner
of front cover creased and minor crease along spine which has
been professionally repaired, otherwise a nice copy of this
interesting period piece. #000763. $395.00 CAD ($300.00 USD)
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Robertson,
Robin. Slow Air, London: Picador, 2002.
First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. SIGNED BY ROBERTSON.
Scarce hardcover edition. #004323. $50.00 CAD ($40.00 USD)
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Sweeney,
Matthew. Selected Poems, London: Jonathan
Cape, 2002. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. SIGNED BY SWEENEY.
Scarce hardcover edition. #004324. $50.00 CAD ($40.00 USD) |
YOUNG
ADULT
SELECTED
WRITINGS
| Plath,
Sylvia and Karen V. Kukil (editor). The Journals
of Sylvia Plath, London: Faber and Faber, 2000. First Edition.
Hardcover. Fine/Fine. Splendid condition. #000564. $33.00 CAD
($25.00 USD) |
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Shaw,
George Bernard. On Going to Church, New York:
Roycroft Printing Shop Green, 1896. First Edition. Half-suede.
Fine. Gilt lettering, suede spine, green endpapers, brown silk
ribbon, deckled-edged pages, 40 pp. An exquisitely produced
book in splendid condition. Elegant ownership signature and
date (“Sept. 1911”) on front endpaper. #003015.
$200.00 CAD ($150.00 USD) |
FINE
ART
Cain,
Julien. The Lithographs of Marc Chagall, New
York: George Braziller, 1960. First Edition. Hardcover. Near
Fine/Good. The first (and most desirable) of the six volumes
of The Catalogue Raisonne of Chagall's lithographs. Contains
191 illustrations as well as 12 original lithographs, entitled
Offering, Our House in My Village, Profile and Red Child, Couple
in Front of Tree, Lovers with Red Sun, Angel Bay, Vision of
Paris, The Angel, The Circus, Woman Juggler, Cover (no title),
and Frontispiece (no title). The reproductions were printed
on the presses of Draeger Freres and the original lithographs
on the presses of Mourlot Freres. Contains a preface by Julien
Cain, an introduction by Chagall, and notes by Fernand Mourlot.
Beige linen over boards with black lettering in original lithograph
dustjacket. Light foxing along spine, previous owner's inscription
on endpaper, otherwise fine. The dustjacket (an original lithograph)
was torn but professionally repaired. There remains some chipping
and rubbing along edges. #004623. $3,200.00 CAD ($2,400.00 USD)
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Foss,
Brian. Marion Wagschal : New Paintings / Oeuvres
Recentes, Montreal: Galerie de Bellefeuille, 1999. First Edition.
Original Wraps. Fine. Contains 15 full-colour reproductions,
a bilingual (English and French) introduction by Brian Foss,
a brief biography and artist's CV. Wagschal is one of Canada's
finest painters. #004630. $25.00 CAD ($20.00 USD)
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Geist,
Sidney. Brancusi : The Sculpture and Drawings,
New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1975. First Edition. Hardcover. Near
Fine/Fine. White linen over boards, canary yellow endpapers,
in grey jacket depicting a Brancusi sculpture. Includes 292
illustrations, including 52 in full colour, introduction, biographical
outline, bibliography, catalogue of the sculpture, and concordance.
An exquisite copy with three pale glue stains to front endpaper,
discreet ownership signature on half-title page in jacket with
very faint sunning to spine. #004626. $525.00 CAD ($400.00 USD)
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Read,
Herbert; and Patrick Waldberg and G. Di San Lazzaro. Marino Marini: Complete Works, New York: Tudor Publishing
Company, 1970. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Very Good.
Linen over boards with red lettering in white jacket with black
lettering and red Marini drawing. Includes 1000 reproductions,
80 of them in colour and printed under the artist's personal
supervision. This 500-page volume is the largest of monographies
as well as the first general catalogue of the genius work of
Marini, "the last paladin of Western Sculpture." Contains
an introduction by Herbert Read, general text by Patrick Waldberg,
and catalogue and notes by G. di San Lazzaro. A splendid copy
with discreet ownership signature on endpaper, light foxing
to front-edge in jacket with sunning to spine, several short
tears repaired from behind with tape. Contains errata slip.
#004627. $260.00 CAD ($200.00 USD)
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PHOTOGRAPHY
Hollinger,
Heidi and Jonathan Sanders. The Russians Emerge,
New York: Abbeville Press, 2002. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine.
SIGNED BY HOLLINGER on title-page and MARIA TARASEVICH, Russia’s
first Playboy Playmate, next to her photograph. Foreword by
Mikhail Gorbachev and text by Sanders. The collection of photographs
of Russians—from ordinary people to politicians and rock
stars—in the post-Soviet era that received international
attention. Includes the controversial photograph of Vladimir
Wolfovich, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia,
erotically posed in his underwear. Black linen over boards,
red endpapers, pictorial jacket. #004625. $260.00 CAD ($200.00
USD)
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CLASSICS
Oxford
Classical Texts. Montreal Books has in stock over fifty
Classical Texts published by Oxford University Press. Please
search our inventory by title or author for specific texts.
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Aquinatis,
S. Thomae. Summa Theologiae - 3 Volumes, Italy:
Marietti, 1952. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine.
Volume I: "Pars Prima et Prima Secundae." Volume II:
"Pars IIa IIae." Volume III: Tertia Pars et Supplementum."
Text in Latin. Grey boards with brown dustjackets. Light edgewear,
otherwise fine. #000714. $200.00 CAD ($150.00 USD) |
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JAMES
JOYCE
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Joyce,
James; Connolly, Thomas (editor). James Joyce's
Scribbledehobble : The Ur-Workbook for Finnegans Wake,
Northwestern University Press, 1961. First Edition. Hardcover.
Fine/Near Fine. A very nice copy in rubbed and very lightly
soiled jacket. #002517. $130.00 CAD ($100.00 USD) |
HISTORY
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O'Halloran,
Sylvester. Introduction to and an History of Ireland (Three Volumes), Dublin: H. Fitzpatrick, 1803. Very Good. Half-leather,
marbled paper over boards, gilt lettering on spine. Bindings
professionally restored, yellowing and foxing to pages (customary
of books this old), covers lightly rubbed. Also, spine of volume
I incorrectly marked volume III and O’Halloran spelt O'Hallorand—a
book-binder's error that lends a certain character to the set.
#002667. $525.00 CAD ($400.00 USD) |
SPORTS
| Pound,
Dick. Inside the Olympics: A Behind-the-Scenes
Look at the Politics, the Scandals, and the Glory of the Games,
Toronto: John Wiley and Sons, 2004. First Edition. Hardcover.
SIGNED BY POUND on title-page. Fine/Fine. A scholar and former
Olympic athlete, Dick Pound (Richard W. Pound) is a member of
the International Olympic Committee, Chairman of the World Anti-Doping
Agency, and Chancellor McGill University. #004629. $65.00 CAD
($50.00 USD) |
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POLITICAL
MEMOIRS
FIRST BOOKS COLLECTION
The following
titles are only a few items culled from our First Books Collection.
For a complete listing of our titles available for purchase, please click
here.
Please note that in addition to rare and small press books, we also
maintain a general collection of common books.
|
Bolster,
Stephanie. Three Bloody Words, Maxville, Ontario:
Above / Ground Press, 1996. Chapbook. First Edition. Fine. SIGNED
by poet on title-page. Author’s first publication. 1 of
300 copies. Red card covers with black line-drawing, stapled
spine. $45.00 CDN ($35.00 USD)
Bolster’s first collection of poems to appear in book
form, White Stone: The Alice Poems, won the Governor
General's Award for Poetry in 1998. Her next two books, Two
Bowls of Milk (1999) and Pavilion (2002), established her
as one of Canada’s leading younger poets. Born in Vancouver
and raised in Burnaby, B.C., she now teaches in the creative
writing programme at Concordia University.
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Gluck,
Louise. Firstborn, New York: The New American
Library, 1968. Hardcover. First Edition. Near Fine+/No Jacket.
SIGNED by poet on title-page. Author’s first book. Grey
cloth over boards with dark blue lettering on spine. Pea-sized
pale stain on back cover, otherwise fine. Scarce. $650.00 CDN
($500.00 USD)
Gluck is the current Poet Laureate of the US. Her sixth collection
of poems, The Wild Iris, won the Pulitzer Prize for
Poetry in 1992. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts and was
previously a Senior Lecturer in English at Williams College
in Williamstown, MA.
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Robertson,
Robin. Camera Obscura, London: Colophon Press,
1996. Hardcover. First Edition. Fine. SIGNED by poet next to
a handwritten stanza from a poem in the book: “I give
the world this aberration / As token of my failure.” 1
of 26 lettered copies. Author’s first book, privately
printed, preceding A Painted Field, author’s
first public collection. Forest-green cloth over boards with
label affixed to front cover, blood-red endpapers, printed on
Mohawk Superfine Paper. Scarce. SOLD.
Born in Scotland and currently living in London, prize-winning
poet Robertson was recently nominated as one of Britain’s
Best New Poets. As deputy publishing director of Jonathan Cape,
Robertson was also responsible for the breakthrough of many
of the “newwave” of Scottish writers who assailed
the literary scene in the 1990s, including Irvine Welsh and
Alan Warner.
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Sternberg,
Ricardo. The Invention of Honey, Montreal:
Signal Editions, Vehicule Press, 1996. First Edition. Wraps.
Fine. SIGNED by poet. Author’s first book. Glossy pictorial
covers. $45.00 CDN ($35.00 USD)
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sternberg has taught at the
University of Toronto since 1979. His poetry has been described
as “lucid, intelligent, and wryly witty,” and “infused
with feeling for what Theodore Roethke called “all things
innocent, hapless, forsaken.”” His other collections
of poems are Map of Dreams (1996) and Bamboo Church (2004).
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Martel,
Yann. The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios,
Toronto: Knopf Canada, 1993. Wraps. True First, as no hardcover
was issued. Fine. SIGNED by poet. Author’s first book.
Glossy pictorial covers. $250.00 CDN ($190.00 USD)
Martel burst onto the international literary scene in 2002 by
winning the Booker Prize for his second novel, Life
of Pi. He is now regarded as one of Canada’s
most exciting literary figures. The title story of this collection
of short stories won the Journey Prize in 1991.
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Layton,
Irving. Here and Now, Montreal: First Statement
Press, 1945. Wraps. First Edition. Very Good/Very Good. SIGNED
by author. Author's scarce first book. Also inaugural book of
the First Statement Press. Card covers in grey jacket with black
and red lettering. Light soiling and darkening to covers, ownership
signature on endpaper, small hole to bottom front of jacket
where a price-sticker was peeled off, covers detached from bottom
staple of spine, scuffing to inside of back cover where it appears
a bookplate was removed. Overall, a nice copy. $2600.00 CDN
($2000.00 USD)
A poet, short-story writer, and essayist, Layton is perhaps
the most well-known of the Montreal poets, a group of young
poets who engaged in a battle against romanticism in poetry
in the 1940's. Layton has published many poetry collections
and he has won the Governor General's Award. Layton was nominated
for the Nobel Prize in 1981.
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Jones,
D. G. Frost on the Sun, Toronto: Contact Press,
1957. Wraps. First Edition. Very Good+/Very Good+. White card
covers in white jacket with grey and yellow lettering. Light
foxing to bottom of covers, light soiling and pea-sized stain
to jacket, otherwise fine. Uncommon. $100.00 CDN ($80.00 USD)
D.G. Jones retired from teaching at L'Université de Sherbrooke
in 1994. He won the General Award for Poetry in 1977 and for
translation in 1993, as well as a host of other prizes. He remains
active as an editorial advisor and translator for the magazine
Ellipse and currently lives in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.
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Richler,
Mordecai. The Acrobats, London: Andre Deutsch,
1954. Hardcover in jacket. First Edition, preceding Canadian
and American editions. Near Fine/Very Good. A nice copy with
yellowing to endpaper, ownership signature, in jacket with short
closed tear, 1” chip at head of spine, faint blue stain
on back. Overall, a nice copy. $200.00 CDN ($150.00 USD)
Born in Montreal in 1931, Richler was the author of ten novels,
including Barney's Version (1997), Solomon Gursky
Was Here (1989), Cocksure (1968), and The
Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1959), as well as numerous
screenplays, essays, children's books like the Jacob Two-Two series, and several works of non-fiction. The recipient of numerous
literary prizes, Richler was made a Companion of the Order of
Canada in 2001, only a few months before his death. He is one
of Canada’s most beloved (and brilliant) authors.
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Webb,
Phyllis. Even Your Right Eye, Toronto: McClelland
and Stewart, 1956. Hardcover. First Edition. Near Fine/No Jacket.
Poet's first separate book. INSCRIBED by poet to Irving Layton.
Layton's bookplate on front pastedown with his name handwritten
in capital letters. Excellent association copy. Lettering on
spine rubbed, otherwise fine, lacking jacket. $260.00 CDN ($200.00
USD)
Born in Victoria, B.C. in 1927, Webb currently lives on Salt
Spring Island, British Columbia. She taught in Creative Writing
programmes across the country, and won numerous prizes, including
the Governor General's Award for Poetry in 1982. She was appointed
to the Order of Canada in 1992. She is one of Canada’s
most celebrated poets.
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