E.A. Robinson, 1896

ROBINSON, Edwin Arlington (1869-1935). The Torrent and the Night Before by Edwin Arlington Robinson, Gardiner Maine, 1889-1896. [Cambridge, Mass]: Printed for the Author, 1896.

First edition of the poet's privately printed first book. The debut of one of America's greatest modernist poets. Presentation copy, signed and inscribed for W.R. Gay on the title: "W.R. Gay from E.A. Robinson 7 December, 1896." The Torrent and the Night Before was printed in an edition of 312, but Carl J. Weber estimates that half were destroyed in a fire (Colby Library Quarterly, February 1974). We have not identified the recipient, but perhaps a relative of Robinson's erstwhile neighbor in Gardiner, Maine, one Dorcas Gay. Robinson decided to self-publish these poems after amassing a pile of rejection slips from publishers which we later explained "must have been one of the largest and most comprehensive in literary history." He dedicated this work to "any man, woman, or critic who will cut the edges of it.—I have done the top." Robinson's second collection was privately printed also but nevertheless attracted the attention of Kermit Roosevelt who brought it to his father's notice and arranged for Charles Scribner's to re-publish it. Robinson's Collected Poems would be the first volume of poetry to win a Pulitzer Prize.

12mo. Original light green printed wrappers (text loose in wrappers, light wear, 2 inch tear at backstrip); modern clamshell box. Provenance: W.R. Gay (authorial inscription).