CANE, Melville

A Wider Arc

First edition. Advance Review Copy, so stamped on the front fly. Boards slightly spotted, very good plus in fair dustwrapper with the spine faded and splash marked. Inscribed by the author to the Assistant in Poetry at the Library of Congress: "For Phyllis Armstrong, With friendly greetings, Melville Cane. 3/25/60." Armstrong was the Assistant in Poetry at the Library of Congress where she bullied, cajoled and served the various poets who served as Poetry Consultant (later changed to Poet Laureate) for 24 years. She was appointed by Karl Shapiro in 1946 who said in retrospect that she handled, "one difficult poet after another, for which she deserved the Congressional Medal of Honor." A tall, chain-smoking, Canadian poet, she reminded Randall Jarrell of T.S. Eliot. She was inextricably bound-up with the history of that office. When questioned about his tenure, Howard Nemerov said: "I had no problems. I just did what Phyllis told me to do."

[BTC #47735]