Collected Poems - Signed Limited Edition [53/100]

Edwin Denby (1903 1983)

ISBN 10: 0916190005 / ISBN 13: 9780916190002

Published by Full Court Press, New York, 1975

About this Item

A scarce, signed limited first edition of the collected works of Edwin Denby, the celebrated dance critic and New York School poet. Number 53 of only 100 specially bound copies, retaining its original dust jacket and encompassing his major sequences from 'In Public, In Private' to 'Snoring in New York.' Key Features: +++ Visuals: Includes a frontispiece photograph of the author by his lifelong collaborator, Rudy Burckhardt. +++ Content: Collects Denby's urban sonnets and lyrical poems that heavily influenced the New York School writers (Frank O'Hara, Ted Berrigan). +++ Ephemera: Laid in are two significant pieces of ephemera which caused the offsetting: a multi-page fold-out essay 'On Edwin Denby' by Lincoln Kirstein (reprinted from the NY Review of Books) and a contemporary New York Times Book Review clipping. +++ Provenance: From the library of Ben Raeburn, the longtime head of Horizon Press (publisher of Frank Lloyd Wright), though not marked as such. +++ Limitation: Number 53 of 100 special cloth copies signed by the author (total edition included 12 additional hors commerce copies). Condition: Near Fine in Very Good Dust Jacket. The binding is tight and square with a clean interior. There is distinct offsetting (browning) to the rear endpapers caused by the acidic newsprint of the laid-in clippings. The dust jacket shows sun-toning (fading) at the spine and edges, with minor handling wear at the spine head. Historical Significance: Edwin Denby (1903 1983) is a central figure in 20th-century American arts, revered equally for his dance criticism and his poetry. He served as a bridge between the Modernists and the New York School, living in the same loft building as Willem de Kooning and collaborating with Rudy Burckhardt. His sonnets, which capture the rhythm of New York City streets with photographic precision, were championed by Frank O'Hara and John Ashbery. A signed limited copy from Full Court Press represents the height of the downtown literary scene of the 1970s. Keywords: New York School, Dance Criticism, Sonnets, Frank O'Hara, Rudy Burckhardt, Limited Edition, Signed Books, Poetry, Modernism, Lincoln Kirstein.

Seller Inventory # 21495

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Collected Poems - Signed Limited Edition [53/100]
• Publisher: Full Court Press, New York
• Publication Date: 1975
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0916190005
• ISBN 13: 9780916190002
• Binding: Hardcover with Dust Jacket
• Edition: Limited Edition.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • LITERATURE [Many Sub-Catagories]

About this title

Synopsis

BRAND NEW FIRST EDITION 2nd printing dust jacket hardcover, clean text, solid stiff binding and text, NO remainders NOT ex-library slight shelfwear / storage-wear; WE SHIP FAST. Carefully packed and quickly sent. 201512301 Edwin Orr Denby (February 4, 1903 – July 12, 1983) was an American writer of dance criticism, poetry and a novel. In 1935, soon after Denby's return to New York City, Orson Welles and John Houseman asked him to adapt Eugène Marin Labiche's Un Chapeau de Paille d'Italie for the stage. The play, titled Horse Eats Hat, was scored by Paul Bowles and was performed as a Works Progress Administration Federal Theatre Production in 1936. Denby spent his childhood first in Shanghai, China, then in Vienna, Austria, where his father served as consul general from 1909 to 1915, before coming to the United States in 1916. He was educated at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut; and attended Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but failed to graduate. He also attended classes at the University of Vienna, before obtaining a diploma in gymnastics (with specialty in modern dance) at the Hellerau-Laxenburg school in Vienna in 1928. He performed for several years, notably with the Darmstadt State Theater and celebrated triumphs alongside Claire Eckstein, a German ballerina and choreographer.[2] Looking for someone to take his passport photo, he encountered photographer and filmmaker Rudy Burckhardt in Switzerland in 1934, and the two remained inseparable for the rest of Denby's life. The following year, they returned to New York City, New York, and rented a loft for eighteen dollars a month in a five-story walk-up building on West 21st Street in Chelsea. Denby's friendship with painter Willem de Kooning. During his lifetime, being ambivalent about the publication of his poetry, he was known primarily as a dance critic. We recommend selecting Priority Mail wherever available. (No shipping to Mexico, Brazil or Italy.)