Chamber Music (Joyce's First Book - Signed Association Copy from Fugitive Poet Merrill Moore to Original Organizer of the Fugitive Poet Meetings, Sidney M. Hirsch)
London: Jonathan Cape, 1927. Early Edition. Hardcover. 5 1/4 X 8 Inches. 40 PP. Very Good. Item #793
One of only 393 copies published by Cape. This is technically the fourth edition of James Joyce's first book. Each of the original three editions were published with similar limitations, so locating any of these early printings has become quite difficult. This particular copy bears an important association related to the Southern Fugitive and Agrarian Poet movement of the early 20th Century. Signed, "For Sidney Mitron Hirsh, with admiration and esteem - Merrill Moore, London. Sept. 4, 1928."
Moore attended Montgomery Bell Academy and went on to Vanderbilt University in 1920. It was at this time that he joined in with the Fugitive Poets that included the likes of John Crowe Ransom and Robert Penn Warren. For a number of years, the "Fugitives" met on a bi-weekly basis at the home of local poet and eccentric character, Sidney Hirsch. These informal meetings at Hirsch's residence brought about monumental work from Allen Tate, Ransom, Penn Warren and Donald Davidson among others. This particular book not only represents the sharing of literary gold among the members of the Fugitive group, it is a tangible piece from the collection of the man who put the proverbial and literal "roof over the head" of the group.
Original blue cloth boards. Slight toning to interior pages and a few dog-eared corners. Name and title embossed in gold gilt on the spine. Lacks DJ.
Price: $500.00