NY, Harper & Row, (1977). Holy the Firm was Dillard's third book, following a book of poetry and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. It is a short book of poetic meditations that took her 14 months to write, while she was living on Lummi Island, off of Bellingham, Washington. At one point, Dillard decided to write about whatever happened during a three-day period, and on the second day, an airplane crashed on the island, causing her to meditate on the problem of pain, and how a just and merciful God would allow natural evil to occur in the world. These meditations on pain, God, and evil continued to resonate throughout her work, particularly in her award-winning volume For the Time Being, published in 1999, more than 20 years after this book. This copy is signed by Dillard. Not an uncommon book, but signed copies appear infrequently, and those typically because she has signed them for someone known to her. Near fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket with a couple small stains and small, open edge tears. [#036413] $300