Dear Stranger / The Wayfarer

First edition. 47pp. Octavo. Pictorial stapled wrappers. Fine. Inscribed by Hamm to his sister (who is mentioned on the acknowledgments page): "Marilyn: Time will tell if you're a good business manager [with small drawing of a smiling face], but my past twenty-eight years has already shown me you are a dear friend. Love always - your brother, Ralph, 79." Scare with *OCLC* locating seven copies. Laid in is an original Typed Poem Signed (six lines) on small card with original ink design by Hamm. Accompanying the book are 16 photocopies pages of the original typescripts for seven of the poems from the book, each dated in 1977, and a few with variations from the published versions. Also present is a photocopy copy of a moving four-page letter, written by Hamm to his mother, dated Jan. 10, 1979, about his life in a Massachusetts prison and his treatment by the administration. Hamm, the author, poet, and playwright, was a vocal figure in the Massachusetts correctional reform movement of the 1970s after being sentenced to life at Walpole State Prison. He was finally paroled in 2020 after more after 50 years in prison. A compelling archive.…