Hadley, Drummond (Glover, Albert)

Broadside: A Cowboy in Town

n/p: n/p, 1980. First Edition. Single Sheet. Inscribed, signed, dated & placed by Drummond Hadley to Albert Glover. “Well Stan Hall is kind of a polite, quiet man, / a fine cowboy with a good steady job, and a wife and three good kids. / But every now and then he goes to town to quench his thirst / with a few gizzard scratchers in the B & P and the Mexico cantina bars.”--Drummond Hadley, first several stanzas. Drummond Hadley (1938-2017) was an American poet-cowboy, conservationist and artist. A master of Americana and a poet who was deeply enmeshed, and indeed learned from the likes of Alan Ginsberg (1926-1997), Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919-2021), Charles Olson (1910-1970), & Gary Snyder (b. 1930), Hadley was a poet among poets. Hadley, like Cormac McCarthy (1933-2023), is deeply interested with the sort of pseudo-nostalgic figure of the cowboy, or border state rancher, and Hadley’s writing often paints the landscape and image of that aesthetic with a vivid clarity and straightforward language. Offered today is the 1980 broadside poem A Cowboy In Town. Imbued with candor, humor, a concise and concrete language, A Cowboy In Town captures the essence of the Clint Eastwood (b. 1930) style cowboy; on the one hand stoic and masculine, while tragic and soft on the other. Hadley’s voice is clearly influenced, in addition to Olson & Ginsberg, by William Carlos Williams (1883-1963), Ginsberg, and Larry McMurtry (1936-2021). While "Drum" Hadley may not have been known by broader audiences, he is by all accounts one of the finest poets in the tradition of American letters. Ultimately, A Cowboy In Town is an extremely tight, well-written poem that bleeds with a stoic pathos. 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 & inscribed in thin black ink by Drummond Hadley to Albert Glover: “Old Stan / Hittin the [Indecipherable] Trail / Drum Hadley / to Al and everything we’ve ever / done that seemed the right / thing to do - / from Drum / Merry Christmas / 1980 / [indecipherable] Ranch / Arizona.” Single sheet broadside (approx. 17” x 11”). First & presumably only printing. An extremely rare Hadley collectible, made even more significant by his scarce signature! In Very fine condition with only minor wear to fine edges. Very Fine. [Item #8318]

Price: $100.00