White Shroud (1986) Signed First Edition Reference

White Shroud: Poems 1980–1985 was published by Harper & Row in 1986. The title poem is a companion piece to “Kaddish” — a dream-vision in which Ginsberg encounters his dead mother Naomi living as a bag lady in the Bronx. Where “Kaddish” was written in the immediate aftermath of Naomi’s death, “White Shroud” revisits her three decades later, filtered through dream logic and the mellowing of time.

The Collection

The title poem is the collection’s center of gravity — a haunting, tender dream narrative that ranks among Ginsberg’s finest late-period work. Naomi appears in the dream not as the terrifying, paranoid figure of “Kaddish” but as a quiet, sad presence, reconciled to her marginal existence. The poem’s emotional register is gentler than “Kaddish,” reflecting Ginsberg’s Buddhist practice and the passage of decades.

The surrounding poems document Ginsberg’s continued travels, his teaching at Brooklyn College and Naropa, and his observations of New York City in the 1980s. Several poems address the AIDS epidemic, which was devastating the Greenwich Village community in which Ginsberg had lived for decades.

First Edition Identification

Publisher: Harper & Row, New York Publication date: 1986

Signed Copy Market Values

• Signed first edition: $75–$200
• Inscribed copies: $100–$350
• Unsigned first edition: $15–$40

The title poem’s connection to “Kaddish” gives this collection particular significance for Ginsberg scholars and collectors. Signed copies are readily available.