Gosse, Edmund (Peters, Robert)

America: The Diary of a Visit, Winter 1884-1885 with: Ephemera

Lafayette, IN: English Literature in Transition: 1880-1920, English Department, Purdue University, 1966. Limited First Edition. Stapled Wrappers. Inscribed & signed by Robert Peters to James Perrizo; & with original typed, hand-initialed letter from Peters to Perrizo. "In the summer of 1884, Edmund Gosse's superiors at the London Board of Trade, where he worked as a translator, granted him a leave of absence in order to make a lecture tour of America...His diary, America, kept daily throughout these brief hectic weeks, and until now unpublished, reads like a veritable Who's Who of cultural and social America, with generals, protocol officers, and for good measure a president thrown in." (from editors' Introduction) This fine piece of Victorian-era scholarship was edited by Robert Peters (1924-2014), the great American poet, playwright, critic & educator; along with David G. Halliburton. Peters was first & foremost an accomplished expert on Victorian literature, & interspersed with his cutting-edge contemporary works through his long, prolific career are studies of the major & less well-known figures of this period. This early academic work is of interest to scholars in its own right (among those Gosse describes encountering are U.S. President Chester A. Arthur & the iconic American poet Walt Whitman), but this copy is very special indeed. It contains an original typed letter, dated "8 July 86" & hand-initialed "R," from Peters to James Perrizo (1944-2009), a major Beat-&-Beyond scholar & collector who had a particularly close friendship & correspondence with Peters. The letter begins: "Guess what! A big fat surprise! Paul (Trachtenberg, the writer & Peters' life partner) has been going through old boxes of stuff and found one (1) Gosse Diary. I have made a Xerox for myself and am sending you the original. I don't think you would probably be able to find it otherwise, and I want you to have it." The letter continues, playing down the significance of this early academic production with his usual modesty, & discussing works-in-progress & other matters. Also loosely present in this copy is a flyer for Peters' performances of two of his verse plays, "The Blood Countess" & "Mad Ludwig II of Bavaria," in Los Angeles (undated, circa 1986). In the work itself, Peters has hand-inscribed & signed on the title page: "For Jim Perrizo (underline)/ (signed) Robert Peters." Opposite title page at a blank area of upper left inner front cover, Peters pasted an original photograph of himself in the "Blood Countess" drag costume-persona as he would have performed per the flyer, perhaps in that very performance. Large-format stapled wrappers, text appears to be mimeographed. First edition, limited to 700 copies as noted on title-copyright page. A very rare piece in the Peters collectible canon, extraordinarily enriched with all this wonderful ephemera & provenance. Pamphlet in fine condition with only mild rubbing to front & back covers; some tiny-to-small spot-stains on back cover; much fewer of same on front cover with small area of surface loss to blank area; very light wear & a few tiny bumps at edges & corners of front, back covers & stapled spine; staples in process of rusting with minimal bleeding at interior. Interior very fine with only small bumps to corners of page leaves; very small stains at upper corners of a few of same; minimal bleeding of rusted staples noted above. Pasted photograph in pristine condition; other ephemera in very fine condition with only mild wear, thin creasing-curling & a few bumps at edges & corners; one very small stain at blank upper right corner of typed letter. Fine. [Item #3246]

Price: $50.00