Smoke and Steel, inscribed, signed, and dated by Sandburg in Haverford, Pennsylvania in 1934.
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1920. First edition. Hardcover. This is an inscribed first edition, first printing of Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet Carl Sandburg’s third published poetry collection. Inked in four lines on the verso of the front free endpaper recto, Sandburg wrote: “H. Tatnall Brown | Haverford Pa | Carl Sandburg | 1934”. First edition is confirmed by the presence of “HOWE” on both the lower title page and spine heel and a broken “2” in “1920” at the foot of the title page.
Condition is very good. The binding, featuring gray laid paper-covered boards, printed in red on the spine and front cover, is square, tight, clean, and unfaded. The upper corners are bumped, the spine ends show some fraying, and the boards show light scuffing. The contents, bound with untrimmed fore and bottom edges, are age-toned but otherwise clean. We find no spotting. The sole previous ownership mark other than the author’s inscription is the illustrated bookplate of the recipient’s son, “Henry Tatnall Brown, Jr.”, tipped onto the front pastedown facing the inscription.
The recipient, Henry Tatnall Brown (1871-1938) was a prominent Philadelphia manufacturer and Quaker leader, and humanitarian. He died just four years after Sandburg inscribed this copy for him. The bookplate is that of Brown’s son, Henry Tatnall Brown, Jr. (1900-1983), who was an educator and dean at Pennsylvania’s Haverford College.
Smoke and Steel was published the year after Sandburg won his first Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his second published collection of poetry, Cornhuskers. “If Sandburg had not already used the title Chicago Poems [his first published collection of poetry], it would apply to this book. Many of the best poems herein are about Chicago and environs… The poem ‘Smoke and Steel’ itself is a sensory description of the creation of steel. Throughout the book, Sandburg shows a feel for Chicago and its everyday working people. The book was composed during Sandburg’s tenure as motion-picture editor of the Chicago Daily News… ‘this assignment pleased him because it gave him a chance to sit in a dark place and compose poems.’”
America’s 20th century proletarian troubadour poet Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), defied easy categorization. “The poet of the American vernacular was not only a tough, gregarious reporter, but a rollicking folk musician”. He wrote children’s books, worked as a Social-Democratic Party political organizer and aide, and became both a Hollywood advisor and State Department emissary. He was likely the only Pulitzer Prize winner to have been a bona fide, incarcerated, rail-hopping hobo, and remains the only Pulitzer Prize winner to have won awards for both Poetry and History. “Sandburg spoke to and for the American Century in which he lived and did his work.”
His first volume of poetry, Chicago Poems, was published in 1916. “From the beginning, Sandburg the poet gave a powerful voice to the ‘people – the mob – the crowd – the mass’… He was quickly established as the poet of the American people, pleading their cause; reciting their songs, stories, and proverbs; celebrating their spirit and their vernacular; and commemorating the watershed experiences of their shared national life.”
In addition to his Pulitzers (1919, 1940, 1951, one of these for his acclaimed biography of Abraham Lincoln), Sandburg’s long catalogue of accolades included the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964), the Robert Frost Medal (1952) for lifetime achievement in poetry, election to the American Society of Arts and Letters, a bevy of honorary doctorates, the National Institute of Arts and Letters Gold Medal (1952), and an invitation to address a joint session of Congress (in 1959, for Lincoln’s 150th birthday). Sandburg’s 1967 own memorial ceremony was held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
References: Heise, The Sandburg Shelf; NYT; ANB. Item #008584
Price: $350.00