Stephen Crane. The American Men of Letters Series.
(New York): William Sloane Associates, (1950). First edition. Stefanik A6.I.a. An important association copy, inscribed by Berryman to his teacher Mark Van Doren on the front free-endpaper: “Mark & Dorothy with love / Crane’s relation w. [Hamlin] Garland tells me something about mine with you. Rebellion & guilt [underlined] suffocating the gratitude. Will you forgive me ever & can we meet? This is better by the way than when you saw it but still lousy. Don’t read it. I hope to do something pleasant yet. / John / 14 Nov 50”. Van Doren was Berryman’s professor at Columbia University, where Berryman attended college and where he began publishing poems in the Columbia Review. In September 1945, Van Doren gave Berryman his own set of Wilson Follett’s twelve-volume edition of The Works of Stephen Crane. One of Berryman’s most important influences, and a life-long friend, Van Doren was also a general editor of, as well as a contributing author to, The American Men of Letters Series, and he commissioned Berryman to write this critical study of Crane, a psychological study some scholars believe tells more about its author than its subject. Berryman’s inscription to Van Doren enhances this insight. A fine copy, the dust jacket of which has been neatly reinforced on the verso at a couple of places along the flap folds. 8vo, original cloth, dust jacket.
Price: $4,500.00