In the Clearing, inscribed and dated by Frost at The Choate School in May 1962, eight months before his death.
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1962. First trade edition, first printing. Hardcover. This is an inscribed first trade edition, first printing, of Robert Frost’s final volume of poetry, published on his 88th birthday, 26 March 1962, ten months before his death. The inscription is inked in three lines on the front free endpaper recto: "Robert Frost | The Choate School | May '62".
Former Choate School librarian Pauline Anderson recalled: “Robert Frost came to Choate in 1962 for the dedication of the new wing…. He came in on Friday and spoke to the School on Friday night… He was staying at the Lodge [the Headmaster’s home at the time], and we were scared to death he was going to fall down those awful winding stairs. After he spoke, I fed him in my apartment in Homestead. We were told that if he had anything to drink, he could have one drink of rum. Well, it turned out that he hated rum, so he had whiskey. And in the big apartment in the Homestead where [English teacher Bill and Mary] St. John lived, we had the whole English department gathered for a party and to listen to his words of wisdom. I think the English department had been given instructions that at 11 o’clock, everyone would go home so we could get Robert Frost to bed. So at 11 we got up, and he said, “What’s the matter? You chicken?” So we all sat down.”
Condition is near fine in a near fine dust jacket. The gray cloth binding is square, immaculately clean, tight, and entirely unfaded with sharp corners and only trivial hints of shelf wear to extremities. The contents are clean, with no spotting, soiling, or previous ownership marks, showing only mild age-toning and a little dust soiling to the top edges of the text block. The dust jacket is entirely complete, including the original “$4.00” upper front flap price. The jacket shows only trivial scuffs and is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.
The title of the poem was taken from the title of the poem “A Cabin in the Clearing.” A consciousness of ending was evident. The book was dedicated to Louis Untermeyer, Sidney Cox, and John Bartlett, all three “close longtime friends of Frost.” The contents are “preceded by an excerpt from what Frost considered one of his most important poems, “Kitty Hawk”. “For years, Frost's intention was to call his last book of poetry The Great Misgiving, from line 229 of ‘Kitty Hawk.’ He finally determined, upon the urging of friends, to name the volume in a more positive light.”
“The second half-title has line 3 of ‘The Pasture’ printed in italics: And wait to watch the water clear, I may. The reference makes a clear tie to Frost’s earliest poetry… By associating the book with his poems from the Derry days, he must have been aware of a sense of closure and completion to what he must have felt would be his final volume…. Publicity made In the Clearing one of Frost’s best-selling volumes and one of his most widely read.”
Iconic American poet and four-time Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963), the quintessential poetic voice of New England, was actually born in San Francisco and first published in England.
Promising as both a student and writer, Frost nonetheless dropped out of both Dartmouth and Harvard, supporting himself and a young family by teaching and farming. Ironically, it was a 1912 move to England with his wife and children that finally catalyzed his recognition as a noteworthy American poet. The manuscript of A Boy’s Will was completed in England and accepted for publication by David Nutt in 1913. A convocation of critical recognition, introduction to other writers, and creative energy supported the English publication of Frost’s second book, North of Boston, in 1914, after which “Frost’s reputation as a leading poet had been firmly established in England, and Henry Holt of New York had agreed to publish his books in America.” Holt would remain Frost’s exclusive U.S. publisher for nearly half a century, seeing him rise from poet to national literary icon.
References: Crane A41.1; Tuten and Zubizarreta, p. 166; choate.edu; ANB. Item #008681
Price: $950.00