Antique Book Robinson Poems Town Down the River 1st ed

Here is a volume of poems by one of the most important poets of the American century:  Edwin Arlington Robinson.

The book is in very good condition, a dark green cloth-covered gem approximately 5x7 inches, with gold gilt lettering on the front and spine.  The gold extends to the tops of the pages; the bottom and the long edges of the pages are classically rough cut.  An interesting feature of this copy is that the second page of the table of contents (and the largely blank title page of the first poem, “The Master”) is actually uncut.  One can gently hold open the top or bottom slits to peer at the page contents.  This first edition came out in September of 1910.  The signatures are tight, and the 129 pages of poems are intact, with remarkably little foxing.  Names of two owners are inside the front cover, while a tiny sticker sits in the corner of the inside back cover: Brentano’s / Booksellers and Stationers / New York.

Slight scuffing at the top of the spine, and small marks that resemble make up, are the only possible issues with condition.  I will leave it to the buyer to clean the slight marks off the front.

The Town Down the River came out in 1910.  Dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt, the book contains numerous memorable portraits of everyday Americans,  people like Miniver Cheevy who harbored a hopelessly romantic vision of the past, and drank away his hopes for present happiness.

Edwin Arlington Robinson was born in Lincoln County, Maine in 1869.  His childhood was not a happy one.  His parents, as they had wanted a girl, did not give their male baby a name until he was six months old, and even then it was a stranger named Arlington who drew the name “Edwin” out of a hat at a gathering.

Robinson attended Harvard from 1891-93, and then worked for a time in New York City, all the time gathering more material for his poems.  His first volume was privately printed.  The Torrent and the Night Before came out in 1896, and included many of his simple but incisive portraits of citizens in his fictional Tilbury Town.  The Children of the Night (1897) was admired by Kermit Roosevelt, who recommended it to his father, Theodore.  

The President helped Robinson get a job in the New York customs house, and the poet continued to produce works of quiet genius, occasionally spending time at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire, where he eventually was regarded as a sage fixture.  Although he also wrote plays, his three Pulitzer Prizes for poetry in the 1920’s placed him in the forefront of American writers, a place secured by his careful studies of the individual.  Robinson is also credited with reviving the traditions of New England Transcendentalists, blending romance with realism and displaying the most memorable dramatic monologues since Robert Browning.  Robinson died in 1935.

This volume would prove a most valuable addition to a collection of American literature.  A search of online antique booksellers, if it turned up a copy, would demand a much higher asking price.  I have owned this book for 30 years and have always treated and stored it gently.

Please pay within five days of the end of auction, using PayPal.  Bid carefully: no returns, please.  I will wrap this book carefully and ship it to you promptly. Extra charge to ship outside the U.S.A.  Thank you for reading about this book, and good luck.