Olson, Charles; Den Boer, James

Olson/ Den Boer: A Letter

Santa Barbara, CA: Christopher's Books, 1979. Limited First Edition. Stapled Wrappers. "When I first wrote Charles Olson, I was a sophomore in a small midwestern college, fancied myself a poet and rebel, and faithfully read Evergreen Review (quite proud to imagine I was the only person in central Michigan with a subscription. It was 1959, and Olson's essay, "Human Universe," caught my attention for an afternoon and moved me to write him. His answer to my first letter is reprinted here." (first paragraph, Introduction by James Den Boer, unpaginated) Transcript of a letter written by Charles Olson (1910-1970), the Great (in person & intellect) Black Mountain-&-Beyond Eternal-Riddle-of-the-Maximus Poet- our cult favorite of whom we're in good company as we scratch our heads over the bottomless puzzle of his literary legacy. The recipient was James Den Boer (b. 1937), a native of our State of Michigan who became a noted poet himself among other achievements, & now resides in California. The carefully transcribed letter is exemplary vintage Olson, more resembling an atonal poem/marginalia than a conventional epistle. With a delightful introduction by Den Boer which includes transcriptions of two postcards from Olson which he received prior to the letter, & facsimile of a page of Olson's hand-written letter on front cover. Chapbook in stapled wrappers, one of an edition of 500 (un-numbered) copies per colophon, in publisher's(?) clear protective jacket. A beautiful production; & a rare Olson collectible to ponder & savor. In very fine condition with only a touch of rubbing to front, back covers & stapled spine; a bit of wear, a few tiny bumps & slight browning/toning at edges & corners of same. Interior very fine with a hint of browning mostly to blank margins/edges of page leaves; tiny bumps & very small, faint creases at mostly upper corners of some of same. Publisher's (we believe) clear dust jacket very fine with only light rubbing esp. at front cover. Very Fine. [Item #5303]

Price: $30.00