Remembrance Rock, an author's presentation copy compellingly inscribed by Carl Sandburg in the year of publication to his close friend and fellow poet, Tom Ferril.
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc., 1948. First trade edition, first printing. Hardcover. This presentation copy of Carl Sandburg’s only published novel is a jacketed first trade edition inscribed in the year of publication to Sandburg’s friend and fellow poet Tom Ferril in seven lines on the front free endpaper: “Dear Tom Ferril | The sheen and aura | of you may lurk | hither and you herein | - with ancient affection - | Carl Sandburg | 1948”.
Condition is very good plus in a very good dust jacket. The navy blue cloth binding is square, tight, and unfaded, with light shelf wear to extremities, two gently bruised corners, and slight bowing of the boards around the massive text block. The contents are notably clean, with no spotting, soiling, or previous ownership marks other than the author’s inscription. The blue topstain retains even, unfaded hue. The dust jacket, with its striking illustration spanning the entirety of the faces and spine, is unclipped, retaining the original “$5.00” front flap price, unfaded, and substantially complete, with shallow chipping and short closed tears along the top edges and light wear to joints and flap folds. The dust jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.
The recipient, Thomas Hornsby Ferril (1896-1988) was a lifelong resident of Denver occupied as a newspaper publisher, public relations manager, and, in his last decade, Colorado’s poet laureate. Ferril’s honors include the Oscar Blumenthal Poetry Prize, the Academy of American Poets Award, and the Robert Frost Poetry Award. By the time this inscription was written, Sandburg and Ferril had been friends for decades. The Letters of Carl Sandburg documents their close association. Sandburg later called Ferril “the great poet of the West… He is the poet of the Rockies. And someday he will be recognized as one of the great poets of America."
Sandburg signed a lucrative contract in 1943 with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios “to write an epic, multigenerational American novel that would be converted into a motion picture.” The movie was never made, but the novel was a popular success. Sandburg’s mammoth, sprawling novel presents “three stories from American history: The arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, the Revolutionaries against England at Valley Forge, the era of John Brown and the unrest leading to the Civil War”. An epilogue is set in the days before World War II. “The tale follows a pendant struck in 1607 and passed down through American history. This medallion proclaims the ‘four stumbling blocks to truth: 1) The influence of fragile or unworthy authority. 2) Custom. 3) The imperfection of undisciplined senses. 4) Concealment of ignorance by the ostentation of seeming wisdom.’”
Like this novel, 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.”
In addition to his Pulitzers (1919, 1940, 1951), 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; The Letters of Carl Sandburg; ANB. Item #008953
Price: $950.00