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Haislip John Rock (1 results)
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Elegy for Jake.
Published by Berkeley Chappell (1965), Corvallis, 1965
Seller: Nat DesMarais Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Association Member: ABAA CBA ILAB
Seller Rating:
Firs edition. One of only 100 numbered copies. Folio (11 x 15 inches). Introductory sheet inserted has title: Elegy for Jake. A portfolio. Ten broadsides, issued loose in a plain blue box. Three of them are original lithographs by John Rock and each is signed and numbered by him. Colophon leaf at end. At the head of the colophon we read "To the memory of John Breitenbach, killed on Everest, March 23, 1963." The plain blue box is inserted into a same color slipcase with a printed cover label. Slipcase with a couple of stains but solid. Publication itself in excellent condition.An ode to living on the edge of death- "Mallory, Shackleton, Lawrence and Doughty/Interior, the deserts where they worked/Luminous, their downward curving pain/Your dialogue with self resembles theirs/. Not you in white, frozen to your desert/Of monumental cold, immemorial calm."The dedicatee, John Breitenback, was born April 17, 1935 in Aberdeen, WA. In 1963, Breitenbach was a member of the first American expedition to summit Mount Everest, along with two other felloe Dartmouth alums, Barry Corbet '58 and Barry Bishop '53. Tragically, Breitenbach died on Khumbu Glacier at the foot of the mountain when a serac, or massive block of ice, unexpectedly collapsed on top of him. The leader of the team, Norman Dyhrenfurth, called a meeting of the rest of the members to discuss the loss of Breitenbach, let everyone speak in response to the tragedy, and see if people wanted to continue. The team decided to continue, resulting in a successful summiting by numerous members of the party. In addition, Willi Unsoeld and Tom Hornbein completed the first traverse of Everest by ascending via the West Ridge instead of the South Col route (which had been used by the 1953 British expedition).Speaking of this poem Haslip stated - "I think it's liriked with my interest in another theme in a long poem I wrote about the death of my friend, Johnn Breitenback, on Mt. Everest. In that poem, "Elegy for Jake," I explore the relationship between the dangerous, journeys men like Jake undertake and the kind of psychic chances 'taken by the artist."John Rock was a Oregon-based artist and master printer. Rock was born in Tillamook, Western Oregon and served in the U.S. Army in World War II (1939-45). He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oregon State College (now Oregon State University) in Corvallis in 1951. He earned a Master of Arts degree from California College of the Arts in Oakland in 1957. He served as a Professor of Art at Oregon State University for over twenty five years, retiring in 1985.
