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AMARANTH.
(New York: The MacMillian Company, 1934). 210 x 140 mm. (8 1/4 x 5 1/2"). 4 p.l., 105, [1] pp. FIRST EDITION.
Publisher's dark green buckram, front cover and spine lettered in gilt. With original dust jacket (front corners clipped, price retained) and yellow paper wraparound band, advertising the author's three Pulitzer Prizes. Front pastedown with ex-libris of John M. Cameron, and his ownership inscription, dated October 5, 1934. Percy Hutchison, "Edwin Arlington Robinson's Dramatization of a Dream," The New York Times, September 30, 1934. Dust jacket a bit sunned along the edges and spine, but a nearly fine copy in a nearly fine jacket.
This is an excellent copy of Robinson's penultimate poetic effort. The first Pulitzer Prizewinner in poetry, Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935) composed darkly humorous works characterized by a juxtaposition of starkly modern language and traditional poetic forms. "Amaranth," one of his long, narrative poems, tackles the issue of artistic failure, following the failed painter, Fargo, as he encounters the mysterious Amaranth and the denizens of the Tavern of the Vanquished. A contemporary New York Times reviewer wrote of the poem "that this is virtuosity brought almost to the dangerous extreme cannot be denied; but with such adroitness does Robinson maintain his balance one can but admire his subtle skill and learn to look eagerly for just such lines in each succeeding poem." Our copy is from the library 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. (ST20338-046)
Price: $95.00