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Details
CRANE, Hart. The Bridge. A Poem. Paris: The Black Sun Press, 1930.
4o. THREE PHOTOGRAVURES OF THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE BY WALKER EVANS. Original printed wrappers (slightest fading to spine); glassine dust jacket; publisher's gold paper-covered board slipcase.
FIRST EDITION, LIMITED ISSUE, number 10 of only 50 copies on Japanese Vellum signed by Crane, of a total edition was 283.
The Bridge, called "cubism in poetry" when it was initially reviewed in The New York Times, stands as one of the great epics of 20th-century poetry. Connolly writes that of the poems "some of them... are near perfect and the whole allegory a masterpiece of neo-romanticism" (The Modern Movement, p.62). Its publication was initiated when Crane met Harry and Caresse Crosby on his trip to Europe in 1929. After reading drafts of The Bridge, they agreed to publish a limited edition under their Black Sun imprint. Crane took up residence in an old mill on the estate of the Compte de la Rochefourcauld which the Crosby's had made into their weekend retreat. Crane hoped to finish the poem that summer, but was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct and briefly incarcerated in July. Crosby brought Crane's return ticket to the U.S. In December, he and his wife visited Crane in New York. A few days after their visit, Harry committed suicide. Despite her husband's death, Caresse Crosby returned to Paris to see The Bridge through the press. Numerous changes, mostly minor, were incorporated in the American edition which appeared three months after the first (see next lot). Connolly, The Modern Movement 64; Schwarz and Schweik A2.
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FIRST EDITION, LIMITED ISSUE, number 10 of only 50 copies on Japanese Vellum signed by Crane, of a total edition was 283.
The Bridge, called "cubism in poetry" when it was initially reviewed in The New York Times, stands as one of the great epics of 20th-century poetry. Connolly writes that of the poems "some of them... are near perfect and the whole allegory a masterpiece of neo-romanticism" (The Modern Movement, p.62). Its publication was initiated when Crane met Harry and Caresse Crosby on his trip to Europe in 1929. After reading drafts of The Bridge, they agreed to publish a limited edition under their Black Sun imprint. Crane took up residence in an old mill on the estate of the Compte de la Rochefourcauld which the Crosby's had made into their weekend retreat. Crane hoped to finish the poem that summer, but was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct and briefly incarcerated in July. Crosby brought Crane's return ticket to the U.S. In December, he and his wife visited Crane in New York. A few days after their visit, Harry committed suicide. Despite her husband's death, Caresse Crosby returned to Paris to see The Bridge through the press. Numerous changes, mostly minor, were incorporated in the American edition which appeared three months after the first (see next lot). Connolly, The Modern Movement 64; Schwarz and Schweik A2.