The Lost Fragments is a special collection by James Laughlin, who recently passed away, limited to only 250 copies, and will not be reprinted. Laughlin writes that my "ancestor, James, a 'thrifty farmer, ' sold his patch of land near Portaferry, Co Down to emigrate in 1834", to Pittsburgh, thus the poet invites his readers into his world and takes them to Ireland via the memories of his many visits there. In lieu of joining the family's steel business, James Laughlin turned to publishing, founding New Directions in 1936 and building it into one of the world's most respected publishing houses. His own first collection of poems was published in 1945.