8vo. Half-title. (Some very light toning.) Original black cloth, spine gilt-lettered (a few scuffs, corners slightly bumped); unrestored and unclipped pictorial dustjacket (some minor chipping and rubbing). Provenance: Charlotte Stephens (gift inscription from Mary Henderson).

FIRST EDITION, SIGNED BY DRAKE: “Sincerely, Leah Bodine Drake. 1950.” ONE OF THE RAREST BOOKS PUBLISHED BY ARKHAM HOUSE, ONE OF 553 COPIES, of which 300 were given to Drake. Dedicated to Drake’s “sixteenth century ancestor Jean Bodin who also concerned himself with witches,” this was her first book of poetry and her only work published by Arkham House. American visual artist Frank Utpatel, who designed cover illustrations for various works of science fiction and fantasy including the magazine Weird Tales  and works by H. P. Lovecraft, provided the illustrations for this dustjacket.