TRANSGENDER. – Michael DILLON. Poems of Truth. London: Linden Press, 1957. First edition, 8vo (186 x 123mm.) (Mild toning.) Original blue cloth, gilt lettering to upper cover and spine (lightly bumped spine ends), dust-jacket (some spotting to panels). Note: scarce. A significant figure in transgender history, Michael Dillon- a minor Irish aristocrat- was the first person to undergo Female-To-Male- surgery in 1946, followed by phalloplasty. Dillon had published a pioneering work ‘Self: a Study in Ethics and Endocrinology’ which was decades ahead of its time in understanding the ethical issues of transgender medical care. He was also a trained surgeon who had performed the first Male to Female reassignment surgery on Roberta Cowell. Dillon’s poems reflect his spiritual questioning. He went on to write four books on Buddhism, dying in India aged 47. Provenance: Margaret Jones (ink name to front pastedown).