Bidspirit auction | 1902. Lummis, Charles F. The

1902. Lummis, Charles F. The Land of Poco Tiempo. Charles Scribner's Sons. (Signed) - Charles F. Lummis. The Land of Poco Tiempo. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1902. This octavo volume is bound in the publisher's original reddish-orange cloth with decorative stamping in black and gold on the front cover and spine. The spine features the title and author's name, rendered stylistically as LVMMIS. This is an important association copy, featuring a full-page autograph inscription and an eight-line poem by the author on the front flyleaf. The inscription reads: For Poco Tiempo / Bent with the sun, barren, here is New Mexico— / A grey, still crone with her hands outheld / To a blaze dead long ago. / Her eyes look back to the ages, her / life is a life apart; / But her old heart still is a woman's— / and she mothered me to her heart. The poem is followed by the closing Sincerely yours, Chas. F. Lummis— and is dated May 27, 1904. The text is illustrated with numerous black-and-white plates from photographs by the author, with subjects including the Pueblo church at Laguna, the East Cliff of Acoma, and ethnographic portraits. A page preceding the title page lists other works by Lummis, including A Tramp Across the Continent and A New Mexico David. The book is in fair to good condition. The exterior cloth shows significant wear, particularly at the head and tail of the spine where the material is heavily frayed and chipped with loss. The corners are bumped and rubbed through to the boards. There is general surface wear, scuffing, and some light staining to the front and rear covers. The internal pages are generally clean with light age-toning. The binding shows strain at the hinges, with some visible cracking to the inner gutters. The author's handwritten poem and signature remain crisp and highly legible.