Broughton, James

True & False Unicorn: Poems by James Broughton

New York, NY, USA: Grove Press, 1957. First Edition. Softcover. “These poems are out of the whole cloth of Make-Believe, patched through with the honest-to-goodness threads of a Mad Jenny’s indomitable selfhood and the rich yarn of a Queen of Sheba’s ‘heaviness all heart’ [sic]. But it is Make-Believe with an urgency that runs deep, beyond what Yeats and Flaubert have so oddly contributed to the concoction. For the Temptation of his very own St. Anthony—who may be his reader too—Broughton has a magic host fantastics out of himself. The charge of his art is to keep at play many contradictory strands, to convey the vitalities and ennuies, the follies that are inspirations of exacerbated spirit” (Robert Duncan, as qtd. at Back Cover). While Duncan’s prose is as it appears, there seems a tad more syntactically errant there —in the endorsement-blurb provided for the great gay poet and West Coast eminence, James Broughton (1913-1999). A Californian by birth, Broughton was born in Modesto, CA and then raised in San Francisco. Discussion of Broughton always proceeds with reference to the literary-historical record as established: it situates and contextualizes his development alongside that of Kenneth Rexroth and the aforementioned Duncan—who were friends and collaborative peers. This is what accounts for Broughton’s somewhat ancestral place in 'the story of the San Francisco Renaissance’ where expansively considered (when [1] “life before City Lights” gets equal airtime with [2] the Arts in San Francisco BEFORE Ferlinghetti’s founding acquisition of the storefront in 1953). Broughton — in stark comparison with those friends here mentioned — does not enjoy the privilege afforded his friends; does not enjoy anywhere near as stable, established, and accepted a legacy as they do. This, for fans and collectors of Mid-Century American Literature, is both good and bad. For fans, it’s “bad,” — because they hear about him far later than they ’should have,’ theoretically. For collectors, it’s awesome. Collectors at an earlier stage in their lives as bibliophiles are even more deeply encouraged to buy while the stock is low: because, as someone with active connections to the University system, I can tell you that Broughton will rise in the estimation of English departments as the domineering influence of artistically mediocre radicals wanes; when the professoriate renounces the years spent in sleep-walking fear. When they’re done with and bored by it all, they’ll go exactly to someone like Broughton: a legitimate artisan among versifiers; a true craftsman at the level of line. Our suggestion is to pick up a first of this before the academics boost his literary-historical stock and the cost prohibitively rises. Broughton’s great technical prowess combines with an as-of-yet underappreciated status and makes him exponentially more affordable than those “on his level”—so elevate your hipness and dig on this! From the collection of scholar, poet and our dear friend Robin Eichele (b. 1941), noted Mimeograph Revolutionary & co-founder of the Detroit Artists’ Workshop with the late, great John Sinclair (1941-2024). Eichele's owner signature can be found along the top edge of the first front endpaper. Trade-format softcover original: the First Trade Edition (or “Evergreen [E-75] Edition”). Book in strong near fine condition with only moderate shelf-wear, rubbing, age-toning & light bumping to fine-edges & corners of front, back covers & spine-edge at select locales, though all wear generally mild & interior pristine. Near Fine. [Item #6500]

Price: $35.00