Dear friends of the Eldritch Dark:

I have just discovered in my archives, my copy of "The Book of American Poetry" edited by Edwin Markham (2d edition, 1934), which Clark lent to me before he died, and Carol didn't want back. It contains CAS' "Nero" only, several Sterling works, and a highly esoteric collection of poets, some well known (Langdon Smith, Sandberg etc), but most obscure. After I have copied the Markham poems into a separate file, I will be willing to sell this book. I wish to give this community first crack at it.
I don't know what the market value is and if our book seller Gavin can tell me that would be helpful -- my guess is around $100, half of which I will send to Boyd.
Dr. Farmer

I'lld settle for a list of the contents - see the "Help with book contents requested. " thread



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 28 Feb 06 | 01:27PM by Boyd.

The book is an inch and one half thick - very large number of poets who were selected by Markham - the list of authors is from page 837 - 848, the Titles from 849 - 872 - I just could not find the time to do that, sorry.

If this book is the one I think it is, it is well worth getting. Several obscure and important poets are included in addition to CAS, George Sterling, and Vincent Starrett. I'd assume the book would command additional value due to its having previously been owned by CAS, and the fact that it includes an early publication by him, when he was still considered the "Keats of the West Coast."

The question is: which version is it?, ---since this anthology was published in a few different editions. My father has the boxed set of the Markham anthology from 1948, which has five out of six volumes, which means this single volume is either one out of six, or it is a single-volume version of the entire six-volume set. We have it priced at $87.00, and it is in fairly poor shape and a later printing, so an earlier printing with such an association with the author would do better, I think.

There are some fine and obscure poets represented in the six-volume set, in addition to CAS, including: David Gray, --who died young of tuberculosis in the late 1800's, and who was later eulogized in poetic form by Samuel Loveman; the English Spasmodic poet John Stanyon Bigg, who is able to out-cosmic CAS at times; James Thomson (B.V.); and several others. Markham quotes a long passage from a poem entitled "Night and the Soul" by Bigg, which has some of his wildest writing:

"Last night I dreamed the universe was mad,
And that the sun its Cyclopean eye
Rolled glaring like a maniac's in the heavens;
And moons and comets, linked together, screamed
Like bands of witches at their carnivals,
And streamed like wandering hell along the sky;
And that the awful stars, through the red light,
Glinted at one another wickedly,
Throbbing and chilling with intensest hate,
While through the whole a nameless horror ran;
And worlds dropped from their place in the shuddering,
Like leaves in autumn, when a mighty wind
Makes the trees shiver through their thickest robes.
Great spheres cracked in the midst, and belched out flame,
And sputtering fires went crackling over heaven;
And space yawned blazing stars; and Time shrieked out,
That hungry fire was eating everything!
And scorched fiends, down in the nether hell,
Cried out, 'The universe is mad--is mad!'
And the great thing in its convulsions flung
System on system, till the caldron boiled
(Space was the caldron, and all hell the fire)
And every giant limb of the universe
Dilated and collapsed, till it grew wan
Beating like panting fire--and I awoke.

--Twas not all dream; such is the world to me."


According to Edwin Markham in his notes to the poem, in Bigg we come to "a poet of strange chaotic power, an English poet...utterly forgotten by the world, and even by the anthologists." I myself later found a volume by Bigg at Cornell, entitled "Shifting Scenes and Other Poems" (1862), which is unfortunately marred by a violently anti-Irish viewpoint. Quite the Tory, apparently, Bigg dedicated the book to the English colonial leader in Ireland at the time, and includes a free-verse poem about Ireland which runs something like this: "A dirty leaning shack, children playing in the mud, a drunken man standing in the doorway to the shack with a bottle in his hand...That is Ireland to me." I and all my dirty drunken relatives take great offense. There is also a violent and scary poem about the Hugeunot Wars in France, in which the author seems to take great delight.



Edited 11 time(s). Last edit at 4 Mar 06 | 07:43PM by Gavin Callaghan.

Did CAS make any annotations or marginal notes in his copy of Markham's anthology?


Thanks--
Scott

no notes, nor is it signed.

This does not appear to be part of a set, as no numbers are anywhere to be seen. Pubs are Grosset and Dunlap by arrangement with Wm H. Wise & Co. It also states, "originally published in three volumes entitled:
The Book of Poetry -- American Poets

copyright is with Wise, 1926 and 1934.

instead of a publisher's preface it is followed by a tribute to Markham by florence Hamilton (his biographer) entitles "Son of the Morning" --
a rather effusive bit of verse - then follows the inroduction, quite lengthy, by Markham.

for those of you visiting Auburn, you might run up to Coloma where gold was discovered by James Marshall in 1848. Edwin Markham's home is there, and marked as an historical site in the town where he taught school for a time. It is believed by some that his experiences there gave birthy to his famous little verse:

Ourwitted
He drew a circle that shut me out --
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
Bur love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in!

drf

ps there are 894 pages -- the CAS poem also has a nice little bio.

I just checked our set, and saw that there is an eerie poem by Nora May French in it.

I received the above mentioned book recently Boyd and I will type out the contents. However, currently I am working on the 244 California Poets (and like the American Poetry collection, the list of authors is huge. I am on K, so expect it next week or the following).

And Jim, I'll copy the Nora May French poem included for you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 5 Mar 06 | 11:41PM by NightHalo.

Regarding the Nora Mae French in this book, many of you may not have located the following site which has a great photo of her and Sterling, and the suicide bio of both: www.stillness.com/nora.html

drf

For those interested in "The Book of American Poetry" edited by Edwin Markham (2d edition, 1934) -- it is not common, but not particularly thought to be of great value: about $10 at the usual places.

Steve is quite right about the value. It's real value lies in the collection of unknowns or forgottens, some of whom are pretty good.
Plus, those who are interested in Markham might care about his choices.
"Man with the Hoe" used to be in all the Freshman textbooks -- along with Bryant's "Thanatopsis", Poe's "The Bells" et al.

from http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?y=16&kn=markham+poetry+anthology&bsi=30&x=66&prevpage=1:

58. Anthology of the World's Best Poems, Six Volumes
Edwin Markham
Bookseller: Fred Field
(Ross, CA, U.S.A.) Price: US$ 85.00
[Convert Currency] Shipping within U.S.A.:
US$ 3.80
[Rates & Speeds]
Book Description: Wm. H. Wise & Co., 1948, Memorial Edition, 1948. Very Good / None. Hardcover; red cloth boards with bright gold print on spine and front; all six books are in very good condition with no marks or fade. Inside; very good, clean and unmarked; outer cut edges are dyed red. Binding; very good, tight. Size: 6-1/4 x 4-3/4 x 3198 pages. Bookseller Inventory # 05056

59. Anthology of The World's Best Poems
Markham, Edwin Ed.
Bookseller: Callaghan Books South
(New Port Richey, FL, U.S.A.) Price: US$ 87.00
[Convert Currency] Shipping within U.S.A.:
US$ 3.50
[Rates & Speeds]
Book Description: William H. Wise, 1948, 1948. Cloth. Book Condition: Very Fine. Set of small red shiny cloth books, with bright gilt on center front and spine, rounded edges to tips, in badly damaged slipcase: Volumes 2,3,4,5 and 6--but no room for missing Volume I. Books are Very Fine. Set. Bookseller Inventory # 12602






Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 26 Mar 06 | 05:27PM by Gavin Callaghan.

The listing above is for the "set" edited by Markham; the original post is about the one volume edition, if I'm not mistaken. Just pointing that out because I don't like confusing apples and oranges, except when doing so is necessary as part of some weird tale or other literary effort.