Spender, Stephen

Broadside: "Art Student"

London, England, UK: Poem-of-the-Month Club Ltd, 1970. First Edition. Single Sheet. Signed by Stephen Spender. "With ginger hair dragged over fiery orange face/ Blue shirt, red scarf knotted round his neck,/ Tied round with bands he ties and unties when/ His feet are not spread sprawling on two tables-/ Yawning he reads his effort. It's about/ A clumsy Icarus always falling into/ A labyrinth." (first eight lines/stanza) A broadside (appx. 11" x 15") with the evocative, homoerotic-undertoned title poem by (Sir) Stephen Spender (1909-1995), the canonical British poet, novelist & essayist originally associated with the circle of W. H. Auden, a major influence who was his close friend & contemporary colleague. A stately, austere production of the British Poem-of-the-Month Club of unknown limitation, presumed first-&-only printing. Below the poem, Spender has hand-written his signature in blue ink, reading "Stephen Spender." A scarce Spender collectible; a seasoned later work that brilliantly balances & expresses the tension between beauty & brutality, greatly enriched by the renowned poet's signature. In relatively quite fine-verging-on-very-fine condition with only mild-to-moderate browning chiefly at thin edges & corners; a hint of wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners esp. upper left edge/corner; one tiny spot at blank left area within border of poem. Fine- Very Fine. [Item #6657]

Price: $60.00