Ferrini, Vincent

Mirandum

Tralee, Ireland: Heuristic Press, 1963. First Edition. Softcover. “It was at that place / overjutting the immemorial sea / in the city of origins / the streets were violet rivers / wharves tied restless ships / and candles held hours / the tarot of midnight stars / had already made the appointment / for living out the drama / at the table of a horned moon / the first time gave / an axiom to a higher geometry / and affirmed / the pursuit of the pristine / as the route / Suddenly space is over all / isolating / the sky / those eyes / air / that stride / that skin / the blooming green / and all outside wanting / to be contained in a figure…”--Vincent Ferrini, pg. 8-9. Vincent Ferrini (1913-2007) was an American writer, poet, and scholar born to Italian Anarchist immigrants in Saugus, Massachusetts. From an early age Ferrini worked in the shoe factories of Lynn, MA, which along with his parents Anarchist politics, instilled in him a deep sensitivity and kinship with the poor & working class. This class consciousness and political radicalization manifested in his early poetic works No Smoke (1940) & Injunction (1941). However, upon his move to Gloucester, MA, Ferrini’s work became less interested in the political, and much more interested in the cosmic and the personal. In 1949, upon seeing one of Ferrini’s poems in the magazine Imagi, Charles Olson (1910-1970) visited Ferrini as a fan of his work, and that visit & burgeoning friendship with the poet would lead to Ferrini introducing Olson to Robert Creeley (1926-2005). Oslon even went so far as to address his first “Maximus Poems” as letters to Ferrini. Ultimately Ferrini remained an academic outsider who never made a living solely from his writing. With vigor, creativity, and compassion he kept publishing for over 67 years, producing 31 volumes of poetry, four volumes of plays, and an autobiography. Vincent is the subject of his nephew Henry Ferrini's film Poem in Action. He was also interviewed briefly in Henry's film about Vincent's colleague & friend Charles Olson entitled Polis is this. Offered today is the 1963 collection of poetry, Mirandum. From Ferrini’s Gloucester-period, Mirandum is contemplative, quiet work that engages in introspective journeys on the idea of the self, the environment, connections to the land, and the cosmic nature of being. A wonderful, propulsive, and beautifully written Ferrini rarity! From the collection of Albert Glover (1942-2026), the acclaimed American poet, bibliographer, editor, publisher & academician who was the foremost remaining authority on Charles Olson, the Great Black Mountain-&-Beyond Poet's Poet who is our favorite Maximus Obscurantist. Glover was a student of & anointed by the Maximus Master himself at SUNY Buffalo during the 1960s, & ever since was the foremost Olsonian Torch-Bearer. We were honored to know Glover, & are deeply saddened at his recent passing. Softcover Original. First & presumably only printing. In relatively fine condition with only minor wear to fine edges, slight discoloration due to age-toning throughout interior and exterior, and moderate smudging/scratching to front and back covers. Fine. [Item #9010]

Price: $30.00