North of Boston Robert Frost Other Poetry

This is a magnificently bright and clean copy of the first edition, second printing of the first U.S. edition of Robert Frost s second published book, which bolstered his newly minted literary reputation and precipitated his return to the United States from England, where his first two books were published. Though erroneously stated "Third edition" on the copyright page, this is actually the second printing of June 1915, following the first printing of March 1915. North of Boston opens with the famous poems "The Pasture" and "Mending Wall" and was swiftly hailed by important reviews when originally published in 1914. North of Boston was the first of Frost's books to be published in the U.S. (preceding the U.S. publication of A Boy's Will). It also found improbable commercial success. While the publisher "Holt had originally imported only 150 copies from [the British publisher] David Nutt in London, they quickly printed 1,300 more copies of their own; a year later, after four printings, the book had reached 20,000 sales - almost unheard of for a book of poetry."This June 1915 second printing is virtually identical to the first printing save for subsequent printing notation on the title page verso. The dust jacket is identical to that of the first printing. Condition is, improbably, near fine, in a near fine dust jacket. The blue cloth binding is clean, square, and tight with sharp corners, vivid gilt, and rich blue hue, with only slight, uniform color shift between the covers and spine. Trivial hints of shelf wear are confined to the spine ends and corners. The contents are surprisingly bright with a crisp, almost unread feel. We find no spotting. Mild age-toning is only manifest to the page edges and endpapers, with only the front endpapers appreciably toned. The untrimmed fore and bottom edges are notably clean, the top edges just a little dusty. The sole previous ownership mark is a brief Christmas inscription on the front free endpaper recto and a cryptic, small, ink-stamped "48". The dust jacket is remarkable, beautifully clean and complete, the best example we have encountered. Calling it merely "near fine" is conservative; it shows only a touch of shelf wear to extremities and a slightly lighter tone to the spine than the faces. The jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.Iconic American poet Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963), the quintessential poetic voice of New England, was actually born in San Francisco and first published in England. Ironically, a 1912 move to England with his wife and children "the place to be poor and to write poems" catalyzed his recognition as a noteworthy American poet. A Boy s Will was published in 1913. A convocation of critical recognition, introduction to other writers, and creative energy supported the English publication of Frost s second book, North of Boston, in 1914, after which "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." Publication of Frost s books in America began with North of Boston; for Frost s first two books, Holt reversed the order of British publication; the U.S. first edition of North of Boston in late March 1915 preceded U.S. first edition of A Boy s Will in April 1915.Accolades met his return to America at the end of 1914 and 1915, when this second printing was issued by his U.S. publisher, was a heady year, marked by expanding recognition and possibilities. By 1924 he had won the first of his eventual four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry (1931, 1937, and 1943). Frost spent his final years as "the most highly esteemed American poet of the twentieth century" with a host of academic and civic honors to his credit. Two years before his death he became the first poet to read in the program of a U.S. Presidential inauguration (Kennedy, January 1961). References: Crane A3; Parini, Robert Frost, p.171, ANB