Blaser, Robin

Image-Nations 13 & 14

North Vancouver, Canada: Cobblestone Press, 1975. Limited First Edition. Sewn Binding. Hand-numbered & Signed by Robin Blaser. “The man with a thousand hearts / flaring / the substance shattered / of what form / that is his movement? / both made the sexual beginning into a demonic / mediocrity / both disappeared in future-form / the language, / sacred to the binding of one / to another, / stolen / the only heart / is the movement of singing words / they burn / they burn / then suddenly bathe in the fiery sea…”--Robin Blaser, “Image-Nation 13,” first several stanzas. Robin Blaser (1925-2007) was an American-born Canadian poet and playwright. The author of numerous collections of poetry, Blaser’s works include: Nomad (Slug Press, 1995), Syntax (Talonbooks, 1983), Cups (Four Seasons Foundation, 1968), and The Moth Pœm (Open Space, 1964). Blaser’s poetry and prose has been collected into three volumes: The Holy Forest: Collected Poems of Robin Blaser (University of California Press, 2006), The Fire: Collected Essays of Robin Blaser (University of California Press, 2006), and Even on Sunday: Essays, Readings, and Archival Materials on the Poetry and Poetics of Robin Blaser, to name a few. Offered today is the 1975 installment of the serial poem Image-Nations 13 & 14. As Bill Davis of “1960s: Days of Rage” points out “The intermittent poems, ‘Image-Nations,’ which surface then fade out into other worlds of thought, perform a narrative without an ‘imposed story line’. Blaser draws on Ovid’s carmen perpetuum, or ‘continuous song’ to describe his sense of seriality as it folds and unfolds throughout his work. In ‘Image-Nation 2 (roaming’) Blaser says: "then we, the apparatus, burned by a night / light, are traveling in company with the messenger’. As the ‘Image-Nation’ builds through a continuum of utterance, the messenger or messengers become exceptionally dense and parlay any sense of finding home.” Blaser’s disjointed, surreal, lyrical style congeals into an experimental serial poem that is in strides both incredibly compelling and wildly dada-ist. A masterclass in image, technical composition, and verse construction, Image-Nations 13 & 14 is a masterful work, and one of Blaser’s rarest volumes. See also item no. 8287 for Image-Nations 1-12. From the collection of Albert Glover (b. 1942), the great American scholar, bibliographer, author & publisher who is the foremost living authority on literary giant Charles Olson (1910-1970; our favorite Maximus Obscurantist), with whom we're honored to be acquainted. Signed and inscribed by Robin Blaser to Albert Glover at interior front cover in thin black ink: “Dear Al, my thanks / for your letter – I’ll / follow it up. / here for now – / I assume you’ve seen / Image-Nations 1-12 & / The Spicer. / Love, / Robin.” Signed and numbered by author at colophon. Chapbook in sewn wrappers. Limited first edition “This edition is limited to two hundred and ninety three copies” as stated at colophon, this is copy 29/293 hand-numbered & signed by Blaser therein. In very fine condition with minor wear to fine edges, and slight discoloration due to age-toning to front and back covers. Interior in very fine condition with no perceptible wear. Very Fine. [Item #8285]

Price: $100.00