1969. The photocopied typescript of four poems by Ondaatje that would be collected four years later in Rat Jelly. Given by Ondaatje to Greg Gatenby (later the director of Toronto's annual International Festival of Authors) in 1969 when Gatenby was Ondaatje's student. Includes "Rat Jelly," "Burning Hills" (2 pages), "Near Elginburg," and "Sullivan and the Iguana." All correspond to the versions published in 1973 except for one extra line in this earlier version of "Sullivan and the Iguana." One tiny hand-correction reproduced in "Burning Hills." Pages are folded once; some spotting to pages, mostly on versos, not affecting text. Near fine. Manuscript material from this early in Ondaatje's career is practically unknown in the market, and this group comes with impeccable provenance, only one step removed from the author. [#029953] $1,500