Letters In Training

[N.p.:] Privately Printed, Christmas 1946. First and only printing, inscribed by Plimpton on the title page. 8 x 5 1/4 inches (20.5 x 13 cm); 90 pp. Original red cloth with printed label to front board. Plimpton's elusive first book, comprising letters written home during his basic training in June 1945 through to his deployment in Italy in October 1946. It is unknown how many copies were printed for private distribution but it was certainly small and the book is quite uncommon. In the 1950s, Plimpton was a founder of The Paris Review and influenced American culture for decades.