UNTERMEYER, Louis, Selected and with Commentary by

Love Sonnets

First edition. Illustrated by Ben Shahn. Oblong 12mo. (small format). Slight soiling, about fine, issued without dustwrapper. Inscribed by the author to his assistant when he served as Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress: "for Phyllis -- This (thanks to Ben Shahn) beautiful little re-interpretation of a few classics -- with love, Louis. 1964." Phyllis 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 #47846]