Iosef Brodskii Chast' rechi: stikhotvoreniya, 1972-1976. Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1977. First printing. 088233235X 113 pages. Gray and blue softcover volume, measuring approximately 5.75" x 8.75", displays very light shelfwear, with very minor loss at foot of spine. Binding is sound. Pages are clean and bright. Rare first publication of this early work of Nobel Prize-winning Russian poet and essayist Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996) by the only publishing house outside of Russia dedicated to Russian literature in both English and Russian. This Russian-language collection consists of Brodsky’s poems from 1972-76 with four major cycles (“Letters to a Roman Friend” [“Pisma rimskomu drugu”], “Twenty Sonnets to Mary Stuart” [“Dvadtsat sonetov k Marii Stuart”], “Mexican Divertissement” [“Meksikanskii divertisment”] and “Part of Speech”).