Oak Knoll

First edition, first printing, limited to 80 copies, of which only around 15 survived (See Broomfield, His Place for Story, A11a; Alberts 62). Accompanying this copy is a letter from Michael R. Thompson, Bookseller, stating that this copy was belonged to the printer, Ward Ritchie, in which the duplicates that were donated to the William Andrews Clark Library were dispersed after his death. This copy is completely unbound, but in near fine, uncut, condition.

Printed on P_Miliani Fabriano paper (with the watermark). S.S. Alberts states that because of the typological error, all but six copies were destroyed (Alberts Bibliography of Robinson Jeffers, 1933, p. 63). However, in an autograph letter dated February 23, 1978 to Thomas Goldwasser, then at Serendipity Books, Harry Ward Ritchie (the printer) wrote in part as follows:

"Enclosed a copy of Stars. ...The fragile black cover papers blemished at the edges as I bound the copies. To the best of my recollection I bound up about fifteen copies and had given away six (from which Alberts got his information) when Larry Powell called my attention to the many spelling errors. I must have sent some copies to Jeffers since he sent me an inscribed copy. How many I do not know. Of the reprint I do have a note that I sent him half the edition.

About twenty years ago, when we were moving from our house in La Canada, H. Richard Archer, who was then at the Clark Library, came up to help with moving and since the Clark was collecting W.R. imprints I let him take a large cardboard box full of my early printing. There must have been some of the Stars material in it because I have heard of several bits of unbound material that has been sold.

This is the first copy I ever sold, though I did give a set of the sheets to the Huntington Library and a bound copy to Occidental. ..."

OCLC locates both the first and second printings in various institutions, with the first printing only beinging held in ten institutions.