ACCOLON OF GAUL WITH OTHER POEMS.

Cawein, Madison J.

Published by John P. Morton, Louisville, 1889

About this Item

viii, 164pp. TEG. Light wear, small darkened area at the top of the gutter, else VG. Laid-in: the author's bookplate and his signature and the date mounted on paper, 3.75x6.5 in., (probably removed from a book in the author's library). The author's third book. See: BAL 2988. According to Otto Rothert, long time secretary at the Filson Club, who wrote the definitive biography of Cawein, only 500 copies were printed. I have seen first editions bound in dark blue, blue-gray, red, green, and mustard. From A LITERARY HISTORY OF KENTUCKY by William S. Ward: "Madison Cawein (1865-1914) was the first Kentucky poet to gain a national and international reputation. In 1887 William Dean Howells read Cawein's first volume of verse, BLOOMS OF THE BERRY, and the following year in his 'Editor's Study' column in Harper's Magazine praised him warmly and predicted bright days ahead for him in what 'might almost be called a landscape school of poetry.'" However, as Ward goes on to say, (paraphrasing): Cawein's problem in winning a reading audience was hampered by his fascination with the Ancients and with earlier English and European literature where descriptions of nature are overlaid with classical allusion and the presence of mythological beings. In all, Cawein published thirty six volumes in 28 years, although much of his poetry was undistinguished and of little importance. Although having been hailed as perhaps the finest nature poet in the world before the turn of the century, he died, at the age of 49, surviving on a monthly relief check from the Authors Club of New Your City. He is buried in Louisville's renowned Cave Hill Cemetery.

Seller Inventory # 11885

Bibliographic Details

• Title: ACCOLON OF GAUL WITH OTHER POEMS.
• Publisher: John P. Morton, Louisville
• Publication Date: 1889
• Language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Poetry