A Boy's Will, inscribed by Frost with a full, untitled manuscript evolving draft of the poem that would be published in 1928's A West-Running Brook as "A Minor Bird".
New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1915. First U.S. edition, first printing, second state. Hardcover. Robert Frost inscribed this U.S. first edition of his first published book on the front free endpaper in 10 lines with the full text of an evolving draft of an untitled poem that would be published in 1928’s West-Running Brook as “A Minor Bird”. The inscription reads: “I have wished a bird would fly away | And not sing by my house all day, | Have clapped my hands at him from the door | When it seemed as if I could bear no more. | The fault may partly have been in me. | The bird was not to blame for his key. | And of course there must be something wrong | In wanting to silence any song. | Robert Frost | For Elizabeth & Ten Eyck Perry”.
First American edition, second state is confirmed by “And” (correcting “Aind”) on the final line of p.14. First state binding is confirmed by fine linen cloth. (Crane A2.1) Condition is very good. The binding is clean and tight with sharp corners, modest spine toning, dulled but still legible spine print, slight fraying to the spine ends, trivial wear to the corners, and a slight forward lean. The contents are clean with a crisp feel despite modest overall age-toning. We find no spotting or previous ownership marks. The author’s signature and dedication transferred slightly to the facing front pastedown, likely the result of the book being closed swiftly upon conclusion of the inscription. The book is housed in a full brown Morocco goatskin Solander with hubbed spine, blue spine labels, and marbled paper interior.
Significantly, this untitled manuscript version of “A Minor Bird” is an evolving draft, following the poem’s first publication in Inlander magazine in 1926, but preceding the first volume publication in 1928. When published in Inlander, the poem read “may” instead of “must” at line 5, “I own” instead of “of course” in line 7, and in the final, 8th line “ever wanting to silence song” instead of “wanting to silence any song.” This manuscript copy reflects the changes to lines 7 & 8, but does not yet incorporate the change to line 5. The difference between "must" and "may" is substantive, at both the physical and literary center of the poem. Consonant with the evolving draft, this copy was likely inscribed in November 1927, placing it squarely between the original, 1926 publication in Inlander and publication in West-Running Brook (19 November 1928).
Henry Ten Eyck Perry (1890-1973), a native of Albany, New York, was a writer and professor of English. Ten Eyck Perry graduated from Yale in 1912, received his doctorate from Harvard in 1918, published a number of books, and taught English at the University of Buffalo. There he apparently interacted with at least one other major American poet; T.S. Eliot wrote in a letter of 26 December 1932 that he was to visit “Buffallo or is it Buffalo Bufallo Bufaloo to stay with Professor Henry Ten Eyck Perry.” The marriage of Elizabeth Ten Eyck Perry (nee Elizabeth McAfee, 1888-1976) led to her involvement with the University of Buffalo, where she was the founding president of the Women’s Club in 1946.
In the University of Buffalo’s archives we find reference to two visits from Robert Frost, once to deliver a lecture in 1921 and for a three day stay in 1927. This inscription was likely made in November of 1927, when he paid a visit to the University of Buffalo as “poet in residence”. The school’s newspaper notes that during his three-day visit he had office hours and “his time [was] at the service of students, faculty, and to a certain extent of townspeople.”
Iconic American poet and four-time Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963) completed the manuscript of A Boy’s Will in England, where it was published by David Nutt in 1913. By 1914, “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.” This first American edition of A Boy’s Will saw a first printing of 750 copies in April 1915.
References: Crane A2.1; Tuten and Zubizarreta; ANB. Item #008722
Price: $6,500.00