Robert Frost - Steeple Bush, 1947, first edition, inscribed and dated

Description: Steeple Bush, inscribed and dated by the author the year following publication at the prestigious Bread Loaf Writer's Conference he helped conceive and with which he was indelibly associated for four decades Robert Frost New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1947First edition, first printing Condition: Very Good plusJacket Condition: Near Fine This is the first edition, first printing, of Frost’s penultimate volume of poems, inscribed and dated by Robert Frost in the year following publication at the prestigious Bread Loaf Writer's Conference he helped conceive and with which he was indelibly associated for four decades. The inscription, inked in three lines on the upper right front free endpaper recto, reads: “Robert Frost | Bread Loaf 1948 | For Grace J. Beadman”. Condition is very good plus in a near fine dust jacket. The green cloth binding is clean, tight, and unfaded, with sharp corners and mild shelf wear confined to extremities, despite a slight forward lean. The contents are clean, with no spotting and no previous owner marks, though showing modest age-toning. The dust jacket is entirely complete, including the original “$2.50” upper front flap price, and notably clean. We note only trivial hints of shelf wear to extremities and quite mild spine toning. The dust jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover. The Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, a program of Middlebury College, is held every summer at the Bread Loaf Inn in the Green Mountains of Ripton, Vermont. “The idea for an annual writers’ conference at Bread Loaf came first from Robert Frost, who taught there in 1921 and was inspired by the setting.” The Writers’ Conference was formally launched in 1926 and has accumulated a rich literary and intellectual tradition in the intervening century. “Frost himself returned to the conference for 42 years, and left an indelible imprint there.” (Middlebury College and the Willa Cather Archive) “Steeple Bush treats contemporary issues of the middle to late 1940s, though on a broader scale it deals with Frost’s concern with how to think originally in the midst of historical and public turmoil and conflict. Several of the poems in the book make direct mention of the atomic bomb and of the hopes for a lasting peace being discussed in the public press in 1946… The poems in Steeple Bush are arranged in five groups, the last four of which are named ‘Five Nocturnes,’ ‘A Spire and Belfry,’ ‘Out and Away,’ and ‘Editorials.’” Among the more moderate appraisals was that of George F. Whicher, writing that Frost “does not write in his seventies imitations of what he was writing in his forties. Where there is likeness there is increase of skill. The present gathering of poems mainly written during the last three years is more topical, more sharply intellectual, and more given to teasing than any of its predecessors.” (Tuten and Zubizarreta, p.340) Iconic American poet Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963), the quintessential poetic voice of New England, was actually born in San Francisco and first published in England. When Frost was eleven, his newly-widowed mother moved east to Salem, New Hampshire, to resume a teaching career. There Frost swiftly found his poetic voice, infused by New England scenes and sensibilities. Promising as both a student and writer, Frost nonetheless dropped out of both Dartmouth and Harvard, supporting a young family by teaching and farming. Ironically, a 1912 move to England with his wife and children – “the place to be poor and to write poems” – finally catalyzed his recognition as a noteworthy American poet. A Boy’s Will was completed in England and published there in 1913. By 1924 he won the first of his eventual four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry (1931, 1937, and 1943, for this volume). Frost spent his final years as “the most highly esteemed American poet of the twentieth century” with a host of academic and civic. Two years before his death he became the first poet to read in the program of a U.S. Presidential inauguration (Kennedy, January 1961). Reference: Crane A30.1 Ref #: 007993 CHURCHILL BOOK COLLECTOR We are Churchill Book Collector, a professional bookseller specializing in books and other published works by and about the great twentieth century statesman and acclaimed writer, Sir Winston Churchill. We offer both a singular inventory and approachable expertise. The integrity of our inventory is backed by our membership in the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA), the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), and the Independent Online Booksellers Association (IOBA). Churchill's official biographer, Sir Martin Gilbert, rightly called Churchill's long life "remarkable and versatile". Statesman, soldier, war correspondent, ardent social reformer, combative cold warrior, painter - Churchill was many things, but perhaps above all a master wordsmith. We’re here to help Churchill’s words find your shelves. Our extensive inventory features some of the rarest material offered – including fine first editions and inscribed copies – as well as reading copies and works about Churchill’s life and time. While we specialize in Churchill, our inventory also includes noteworthy first and collectible editions by other authors, ranging from Xenophon to T. E. Lawrence, spanning exploration and empire to twentieth century fiction. We are able to help with anything from finding individual books to assembling full collections, working closely with individual collectors to identify and accommodate their preferences and budget. We are also able to commission preservation cases and fine bindings. Please contact us if you have books to sell. We buy, and in some cases consign, fine and collectible individual items, as well as whole collections.

Price: 660 USD

Location: San Diego, California

End Time: 2024-12-21T22:54:48.000Z

Shipping Cost: 18 USD