McLachlan, Meschach

Seizures of the Sun

ISBN: 1883197112
Cullowhee, NC; Spartanburg, SC: New Native Press/ Holocene MicroPublishing, 1996. Limited First Edition. Stapled Wrappers in Attached Over-Wraps. Signed by co-publisher Thomas Rain Crowe. "As this book goes to the printer for publication, its author is yet seventeen years of age. Perhaps what is even more impressive is that many of the poems in this collection are almost two years old. These revelations, coupled with the disarming quality and precocious nature of the poems, puts Meschach McLachlan in very rare, and one might even say elite, company-- Keats, Rimbaud, Lamantia, Patchen and Dylan Thomas immediately come to mind." (from introduction by Thomas Rain Crowe, front flap) A first collection of poems by Meschach McLachlan, born into a Mormon family in Utah & a beginning university student in North Carolina at the time of this publication. Chapbook in stapled wrappers with attached over-wraps & flaps, a handsome co-production of Thomas Rain Crowe's New Native Press imprint & Holocene MicroPublishing, the imprint of Crowe's fellow poet-colleague John Lane. As noted on colophon, this is one of an edition of 500 copies published during the fall of 1996, of which 100 copies were numbered & signed by McLachlan. Although this copy is among the 400 not numbered or signed by McLachlan, Crowe has hand-written his signature in bold blue ink, next to & below reference to himself & NNP on copyright page. Crowe was at the center of the Baby Beat Generation/ Second San Francisco Renaissance during the 1970s (see our book, Starting From San Francisco, Item No. 3071, Deluxe Edition No. 3075), & is a native of North Carolina where he has long returned to & lived. Crowe's comparison of McLachlan's work with that of Beat-related luminaries & their masterly precursors is a tall order, but our perusal of these poems confirms that his laudatory assessment was justified- the young McLachlan was a real prodigy. We have not seen any works of his published or any references to him since this inaugural chapbook. What became of this most promising & prodigious poet, who would be in his early forties as of this writing? A rewarding, perhaps singular literary rarity with important association & provenance. In very fine condition with only very slight rubbing to front, back covers & spine of over-wraps; a bit of wear & a few tiny bumps at edges & corners of same & flaps; mild spotting to edges of text block. Interior very fine with light but profuse spotting to several blank pages; much less of same to mostly blank areas of some printed pages; tiny bumps at upper corners of a few page leaves. Very Fine. [Item #4148]

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