Let Us Compare Mythologies.

First edition of Cohen's first book, which explores philosophy, sexuality, death, a world of violent contrasts that would define his future literary and musical careers. Octavo, original cloth, with five full-page line illustrations by Freda Guttman. Association copy, inscribed by the author in the month of publication on the front free endpaper to fellow poet Robert Hershon, “To Robert Hershon in friendship Leonard Cohen May 1956.” From the collection of  Robert Hershon with his bookplate to the front pastedown. The recipient, Robert Hershon was a poet, publisher, and editor best known as the co-founder of Hanging Loose Press and its companion magazine, which he established in Brooklyn in 1966 alongside Dick Lourie, Ron Schreiber, and Emmett Jarrett. The magazine began as mimeographed loose pages enclosed in an envelope — a deliberately accessible format intended to champion underrepresented voices rather than solicit from established names — and grew over five decades into one of the most respected independent literary presses in the country, issuing more than 240 books. Hershon also served as executive director of The Print Center, Inc., a non-profit printing facility serving literary publishers and arts organizations, for more than thirty years, while simultaneously producing more than a dozen collections of his own poetry — work characterized by wry humor, plain-spoken directness, and an unfailing attentiveness to the textures of everyday Brooklyn life. He received fellowships from both the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts, and at his death in 2021 was described by the poet and critic John Yau as a major but seriously under-appreciated contemporary poet whose voice had no real equivalent in American letters. Near fine in a good dust jacket with chipping and losses. Housed in a custom half morocco slipcase and folding chemise. Uncommon, as reportedly fewer than 400 copies of the first edition were printed (Nadel, 45). Rare and desirable signed and inscribed.