Fredman, Stephen (Olson, Charles; Glover, Albert)

The Grounding of American Poetry: Charles Olson and the Emersonian Tradition with: Ephemera

ISBN: 0521443032
New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1993. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. “Stephen Fredman asserts in his latest work that American poetry is groundless—that each generation of American poets faces the problem of identity anew and must discover for itself fresh meaning. His argument focuses on four pairs of poets—Eliot/Williams, Thoreau/Olson, Emerson/Duncan, and Whitman/Creeley. Fredman explores the various measures taken by these American poets to provide a provisional ground upon which to construct their poetry: inventing idiosyncratic traditions, forming poetic communities, engaging in polemical prose, assessing all the dimensions of particular places, and treating words as emblematic and mysterious objects. At the very core of the book is Charles Olson, whose work so dramatically articulates the whole range of issues arising from the American poet’s search for, and resistance to, an authentic and unified tradition” (Abridged Quotation from Front Flap Copy). A volume of criticism by the American scholar and Professor of English at Notre Dame, Stephen Fredman. As the front flap copy suggests, it focuses on the problems and necessities of articulating an American tradition in verse and prose and uses the work of Charles Olson (1910-1970), as well as a who’s-who of several additional American giants of literature and prosody to assist in this goal. An overlooked, valuable study in American literary criticism. In addition to the volume, we have found & have retained (at recto of FFEP) a postcard advertising the launch party for a book of poems by Albert Glover (1942-2026), the esteemed American poet, editor, publisher & academician who was the foremost remaining authority on Olson, and from whose collection this item hails. Glover was a student of & anointed by the Maximus Master himself at SUNY Buffalo during the 1960s, & had ever since served outstandingly to bear the Olsonian Torch as bibliographer, editor & publisher. Albert passed away during February of 2026, & we extend our heartfelt condolences to his family. See photographs for more information on this rare piece of Glover ephemera. Hardcover in unclipped dust-jacket: First Edition, though not explicated as such on copyright page; First Printing, with no reference to other printings, thereon. Book in very fine condition with only minute shelf-wear & some light bumping to fine-edges & corners of front, back covers & spine-edge; otherwise, pristine. Dust jacket is Fine-Very fine with only corresponding light shelf-wear, minute bumping, & some light rubbing to fine-edges & corners of front, back covers & spine-edge; otherwise, clean. Postcard in near fine condition with only moderate-to-enunciated age-toning & light edge-wear & some bumping to recto & verso sides; otherwise, generally clean. Very Fine / Fine-Very Fine. [Item #8947]

Price: $25.00