Tannenbaum, Sheldon

Broadside: "The Monument" / "Mirror-Image"

Detroit, MI, USA: The Red Hanrahan Press, 1970. First Edition. Single Sheet. Sheldon Tannenbaum is one of those enigmatic poets that has faded to near-obscurity, almost lost to time if his colleagues and peers hadn’t preserved pieces like this print. Local Detroit poet Thomas Fitzsimmons (1926-2017) collected the publications from Bill Cox’s Red Hanrahan Press throughout his career because he was frequently featured. The Red Hanrahan primarily produced broadsides by prominent Detroit-area poets, including Henrietta Epstein (1930-2010), Marge Piercy (b. 1936), and Donald Hall (1928-2018), during the small press revival in the late 1960s & early 1970s. The only fragments of Tannenbaum’s writing still remaining are his contributions to the Yale Review in the early 1960s within the few remaining copies held onto by other contributors or collectors. His only published work, presuming it is the same Sheldon Tannenbaum, is a poetry collection released in 1981 titled Ambitions: Poems, 1960-1979. The two decades included in that collection align with Tannenbaum’s active years, including the printing of this broadside, but it is difficult to confirm they are one and the same. This special printing was done “on the poet’s birthday” in his honor, which suggests these may be his most appreciated poems. “The Monument” evokes the vulnerability of connecting with others whether human or divine and the fear of rejection that comes with pursuing the intimacy of being known. “Mirror-Image” is an introspective musing on loneliness and the urge to escape your reality for something more. From the collection of Thomas Fitzsimmons, noted American poet, academician & editor, which we have been honored to obtain from his son, Ian Fitzsimmons. Single sheet (appx. 8” x 12”): first edition, presumed first-&-only printing, though neither explicated as such. In fine condition with very minor bumping to the fine edges and corners; two small pin-holes are near the top corners; & a stamped “free” in red ink on verso in the center toward bottom edge. Fine. [Item #6953]

Price: $60.00