Auden, W.H.

Homage to Clio

New York, NY, USA: Random House, 1960. First American Edition. Hardcover. "Our hill has made its submission and the green/ Swept on into the north: around me,/ From morning to night, flowers duel incessantly,/ Color against color, in combats// Which they all win, and at any hour from some point else/ May come another tribal outcry/ Of a new generation of birds who chirp/ Not for effect but because chirping// Is the thing to do." ("Homage to Clio," first two stanzas plus concluding fragment of third, pg. 3) A later mid-career collection of poems by W(ystan) H(ugh) Auden (1907-1973), the canonical British-American poet. Beginning with the title poem quoted above, "This collection of poems was written between 1954 and 1959. As the title implies, the theme relating the poems is history. the collection includes an interlude in prose and at the end of the volume there is a sequence of Academic Graffiti." (front flap) A hilarious example of the latter sequence is this first entry: "Henry Adams/ Was mortally afraid of Madams:/ In a disorderly house/ He sat quiet as a mouse." (pg. 85) Hardcover in unclipped first-issue dust jacket (with $3.50 price & "4/60" printed at front flap), first American edition published (apparently earlier) the same year as the first UK edition, "First Printing" as stated at copyright page. From the collection of Laurence Goldstein (1943-2023), a renowned American author, film critic, poet, editor & academician here at the University of Michigan. A vintage, ever-rewarding Auden collectible full of the clarity, humor, wit & wisdom that place him among this writer's very favorite poets, with distinguished provenance. Book in relatively quite very fine condition with very light rubbing to front, back covers & spine; a touch of wear, mild browning/fading & a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same; a bit of rubbing, browning to side & lower edges of text block; very slight rubbing, fading & occasional faint scratching to red-dyed upper edge of same. Interior very fine with only mostly-mild browning to blank white paste-downs & endpapers; a hint of browning to page leaves (chiefly at blank margins/edges). Dust jacket (again relatively) fine with light rubbing, browning, faint scratching & occasional spotting to front, back covers, spine & flaps; mild wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same; several very small chips & short crease-tears mostly at upper edges & corners with minimal loss of paper, surface paper. Very Fine / Fine. [Item #6877]

Price: $80.00