Chaloner, David

The Edge

Cambridge, England: Equipage, 1993. First Edition. “The events and experiences that inform this work are interpretations of my father’s anecdotal recall. After a short period in a cotton mill he worked as a farm labourer through the 1920s and 30s. After the second World War he transferred his efforts to gardening. The underlying dissatisfaction and frustration with conditions that he accepted as unalterable, in an archaic and feudal system, remained with him into old age. He maintained that landowners and tenant farmers exercised choice preference for non-union men who would not cause trouble. This suited his migrant nature but certainly contributed to exploitation. Illegitimate, and fostered at thirty days of age to a family of whom he rarely spoke, he carried that loss and legacy throughout his working life, seeking to displace the influence in a glorification of family life that often confounded his best intentions. This theme and exploration, both directly and through a form of observed, secondary presentation as witness, are jointly therefore about self-deception, conflict and continuity.” (David Chaloner, Coda) A later piece by David Chaloner (1944-2010), one of Britain’s major post-war poets and a participant in the British Poetry Revival whose writing career spanned more than four decades. Besides poetry, Chaloner was an accomplished designer who served as a design ambassador for the British Council. From the collection of Albert Glover (b. 1942), the American scholar, bibliographer, author & publisher who is the foremost living authority on literary giant Charles Olson (1910-1970; our favorite Maximus Obscurantist). Chapbook in stapled wrappers. First Edition, though not stated as such at copyright page. In Fine condition with some rubbing, scratching, & smudging to front, back covers; mild creasing to edges & corners of same and stapled spine. Interior Fine-Very Fine with very light age-toning and some minor staining and creasing to edges & corners of some page leaves. Fine. [Item #8481]

Price: $40.00