Cornouailles

1916 · rif. C100306 — Philadelphia: N.l. Brown 1916. First Edition. Wraps. Paperback . Very Good. First Edition. Wraps. Small 8vo. Booklet of 15 pages. 4 1/2 inches by 6 . Original pale green printed wraps. Illus on cover of Donald Evans 'by a votary of the typewriter'. No date but WorldCat who have 10 copies suggest 1916. A good portrait of the East Coast poet maudit with much quotation from his poems some possibly printed here for the first time. Donald Evans 1884 -1921 was an American poet publisher music critic and journalist highly rated in his day and still of interest. Born in Philadelphia fought in WW1 associated with the avant-garde scene of Greenwich Village his works relate a strong sense of irony as well as his own personal bohemianism coupled with the deep influence of 1890s aestheticism. Somewhat comparable to fellow bohemian poet Maxwell Bodenheim many stories about his bohemian lifestyle circulated. Evans single-handedly founded and managed the Claire Marie press intending to publish ""New Books for Exotic Tastes"". He stated its goals as thus ""Claire Marie believes there are in America seven hundred civilized people only. Claire Marie publishes books for civilized people only. Claire Marie's aim it follows from the premises is not even secondarily commercial."" Evans was an early admirer of Gertrude Stein. He first published her Tender Buttons in 1914. Evans was also close to Wallace Stevens; it is said that the two planned to write a book of one-line poems together. His works include 1914's Sonnets from the Patagonian 1916's Two Deaths in the Bronx and 1919's Ironica. It is suspected that Evans' death in 1921 was a suicide. Very good indeed. N.l. Brown, paperback