JEFFERS, Robinson (1887-1962)

Californians [Review Copy]

New York: Macmillan, 1916. First Edition. Hardcover. First Printing ("Published October, 1916" on copyright page) of the author's first commercially published book, one of only 1200 copies. Review Copy, with review statement ("Review Copy Not for Sale") punched into title page. Small 8vo: [8],217,[9]pp. Publisher's indigo vellum cloth; upper cover framed in blind with double rule and lettered in gilt, with indigo, green and gold vignette; spine stamped in gilt; tipped-in title leaf on coated stock with cover vignette; top edge gilt; others untrimmed. A superb copy, fresh and bright, virtually without flaw, lacking the scarce dust jacket. Alberts 15. Fine. Item #BB1291

¶"Una [Call Kuster] was to be the extraordinary love of [Jeffers's] life. But another great and equally profound love overwhelmed him shortly after the couple moved to Carmel in 1914. Una described it as a kind of religious conversion under the influence of the wild and thunderously radiant landscape of the Carmel-Big Sur coast. God shouted to him from every stark headland, cascading wave, wind and sea-eroded rock, storm-twisted cypress grove, storm-wracked creek bed, and volcanic outcropping of a coast so wild that it could be reached only on horseback or by way of the treacherous, mostly invisible coastal track weekly used by the mail coach to Sur. As the years turned into the 1920s, he became a devout pantheist, seeing the world as God overwhelmingly revealed in the divinely eloquent beauty of this coast. . . . In Carmel he continued writing, and as he became more in tune with the coast and its denizens, both human and animal, he began to experiment with narrative, producing Californians in 1916, a book of nineteen lyrics and twelve story poems reflecting Big Sur life. His cosmic God was not yet present in these writings, but precipitously in the early 1920s he began to explore the concept of a pre- and post-civilization world of non-human forces and a God who had no interest in cult devotion or human history, in individual lives or the course of nations." (Literary Encyclopedia) N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable polypropylene sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Price: $274.00