Prufrock
T.S. Eliot, 1917
ELIOT, T.S. (1888-1965). Prufrock and Other Observations. London: The Egoist Ltd., 1917.

First edition of Eliot’s first book, a masterpiece of modernist verse. Prufrock reached publication principally through the efforts of Ezra Pound. After the manuscript had been rejected by several London publishers, Pound approached Harriet Shaw Weaver and offered to raise the money for printing himself. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” the longest and finest poem in the collection, remains a landmark in modernist poetry, famous for the embarrassed fallibility of its speaker, his social and sexual frustrations, and the richness of its literary allusions. Here was “something quite new in English verse and far beyond the capacity of Laforgue who is given credit for influencing him” (Connolly). Connolly, The Modern Movement 30; Gallup A1.

Octavo. (A little toned at ends.) Original tan printed wrappers (hinges neatly repaired); custom box.