Dalke, Robert; Olson, Charles; Glover, Albert

Novalis' "Subjects" (A Curriculum of the Soul No. 11, 1973)

Canton, NY: IThe Institute of Further Studies, 1973. First Edition, First Printing. Stapled Wrappers. "Each person is the germ of an endless genius." (von Hardenberg, epigraph). Poet & translator Robert Dalke's "Novalis' 'Subjects'" is fascicle number 11 in "A Curriculum of the Soul," the series of chapbooks issued by the Institute of Further Studies. The series grew out of Black Mountain School Pioneer Charles Olson's (1910-1970) 1968 A Plan for a Curriculum of the Soul, a one-page map of 223 names, terms, and subjects that Olson sketched as a kind of syllabus for the poetic imagination. After Olson died in 1970, John Clarke (1933–1992) and Albert Glover (1942-2026) took his list and assigned individual keywords to different poets, each of whom produced a small chapbook on their assigned subject. Twenty-eight fascicles were produced over roughly three decades. Dalke's contribution answers Olson's keyword Novalis (Novalis being the pen name of the German Romantic poet & philosopher Friedrich von Hardenberg (1772–1801)). Rather than writing an original essay or poem, Dalke's fascicle is a translation. He rendered selections of Novalis's own "subjects" (fragments/notes) into English, which is why it sits a little apart from the other fascicles where the named poet is the author. The company it keeps in the series is notable as the other fascicles were done by Robert Duncan (Dante; Item No. 6827), Robin Blaser (Bach's Belief; Item No. 8141), John Wieners (Woman; Item No. 8122), Alice Notley (Homer's Art; Item No. 9203), Fred Wah (Earth, Item No. 9197), Ed Sanders (The Egyptian Hieroglyphs; Item No. 9201), George Butterick (The Norse; Item No.9217), publisher Albert Glover (The Mushroom; Item No. 7966), and others, with Olson himself supplying number 0, Pleistocene Man. Please see Item No. 8138 for the complete series of The Curriculum of the Soul. From the collection of the aforementioned Albert Glover (1942-2026), the great American scholar, bibliographer, author & publisher who until recently was the foremost remaining authority on aforementioned literary giant Charles Olson, with whom we're honored to have been acquainted. Chapbook in Stapled Wrappers: First Edition, first printing, though neither explicated at copyright page. A most collectible entry from Charles Olson's "Curriculum of the Soul" in its rarest contemporary form, with extremely relevant association & very distinguished provenance. In relatively fine-to-very fine condition with mild bumping of corners to front, back covers & spine; mild verging on moderate creasing at bottom (left/right) corner of front & back covers at spine. Interior very fine with no discernible flaws. Fine-Very Fine. [Item #9209]

Price: $150.00 save 10% $135.00