“I SHALL GO BACK AGAIN TO THE BLEAK SHORE”: FIRST EDITION OF THE HARP-WEAVER AND OTHER POEMS, IN RARE ORIGINAL DUST JACKET, INSCRIBED BY EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY, THE NEVILLE COPY

MILLAY, Edna St. Vincent. The Harp-Weaver and Other Poems. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1923. Slim octavo, original black cloth, original dust jacket. Housed in a custom cloth chemise and slipcase.

First edition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning title poem and 66 other poems, in rare original dust jacket, inscribed by the author to Chicago-based writer and famed Sherlockian Vincent Starrett: “For Vincent Starrett, Sincerely yours, Edna St. Vincent Millay. Jan. 30, 1924, Chicago.” The Neville copy.

"Between 1915 and 1920 [Millay] became a celebrity in bohemian Greenwich Village and by 1920 was known as the voice of her generation— full of freshness, gaiety, and implied rebellion. Though her style remained largely traditional, romantic, and lyrical, her free spirit spoke for modernism in the arts during the Jazz Age. In 1923 her third volume of poetry [The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver] won the first Pulitzer Prize attained by a woman poet" (Library of Congress). Beginning with the The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver, Millay's poems displayed "a further deepening from her earlier arch attitude to a more disillusioned bitterness. Her mature technical ability, particularly in the sonnet, her lyric gift, and her directness were exhibited in further volumes" (Hart, 492). First published in 1922 in wrappers as The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver by Frank Shay, and containing only the title poem; the present edition was published by Millay's new publisher, Harper & Brothers and, in addition to the title poem, contains 66 poems, 47 of them appearing for the first time in book form. Yost 19; see Yost 15. This copy is inscribed to Vincent Starrett, a Chicago writer who spent most of his life as a newspaper man, beginning at the Chicago Daily News before spending 25 years writing a book column, "Books Alive," for the Chicago Tribune. Starrett was perhaps better known for his lengthy career in pulp fiction, in which he wrote across genres—embracing detective fiction, horror, and even poetry. Notably, Starrett was a Sherlock Holmes enthusiast and became most famous for The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1933). Starrett's owner signature on half title. Millay poem and newspaper clipping attached to rear blanks. This copy was also once part of the collection of Maurice Neville, best known as a famous collector of modern American literature, especially Hemingway.

Book fine, rare dust jacket extremely good with mild rubbing, a bit of wear to extremities, and mild toning to spine. A most desirable inscribed copy.