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SUMMER KNOWLEDGE. NEW AND SELECTED POEMS: 1938-1958.
(Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1959). 215 x 137 mm. (8 1/2 x 5 1/2"). 240 pp. FIRST EDITION.
Publisher's tan buckram, cover and spine printed in green and gilt. In original dust jacket. Front flyleaf with ink ownership inscription of John Frederick Nims. A number of small scuffs to jacket spine, other very minor signs of wear to the jacket, very faint yellowing at page edges (no doubt as in every copy) because of paper stock, otherwise an extremely fine copy, the white expanses of the jacket very clean, and the text with few signs of use.
In addition to having a second important ownership, this excellent copy of Schwartz's award-winning final collection is from the library of a major figure in the contemporary literary world. Delmore Schwartz (1913-66) is often remembered as much as the archetype of the tortured, self-sabotaging artist as for his literary output, and this brilliant last work has added significance as it marks the beginning of his decline. In "Summer Knowledge," he meditates on themes of life, death, and spirituality; author R. K. Hegelman writes that here "his vision gains definition, at last. Where his tendency to abstraction previously fell flat, he now sets the native sensuousness of his language to evocations of concrete experience with rousing effect." "Summer Knowledge" won Schwartz the prestigious Bollingen Prize for poetry; at 47, he was the youngest-ever winner. Unfortunately, it was around this time that his career and life began their decline, and he died, alone, seven years after this publication. Our copy is from the library of poet, editor, and translator John Frederick Nims (1913-99). Nims served as editor of Poetry Magazine from 1978-84, held professorships at multiple universities, and published poetry, criticism, and translation throughout his fruitful career. He is best known for his translations of Michelangelo's poetry; the Poetry Foundation now awards the John Frederick Nims Memorial Prize for poetry translation in his honor. More recently, this copy resided in another library with distinguished poetic connections--that of Laure-Anne Bosselaar (b. 1943) and her husband Kurt Brown (1944-2013). Bosselaar is a Belgian-American poet, translator, and editor who has published numerous works of poetry in multiple languages, including five collections of her own works. She has received various prizes and recognitions (Pushcart, Isabella Gardner, Breadloaf) and was named Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara in 2019. Sometimes publishing jointly with Bosselaar, Brown was also a prolific poet and editor of anthologies, as well as the founder and first director of the Aspen Writer's Conference, playing a pivotal role in shaping its early vision and establishing Aspen as a literary center. (ST20338-044)
Price: $150.00