October 2019 Auction Ends Thursday, October 31st, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/31/2019
Over 100 pages of poetry by the Pulitzer Prize winning author Anne Sexton, the first drafts of ''The Awful Rowing Toward God'' and ''The Death Notebooks'', one day after she completed these ''raw, unworked poems''. Poems are accompanied by two typed letters signed, the first written to critic Walter Kerr, to whom she gave these poems because she had read that Kerr and his wife read poetry aloud, and that she was also touched by his ''kind, gracious, and insightful review of 'Mercy Street' years earlier. Two page letter is written upon Sexton's personal letterhead, dated 31 January 1973 as is the other single page letter, also signed ''Anne Sexton'', where she writes one day after their completion, ''These poems were started January 10, 1973, finished January 30, 1973...they are raw, unworked poems, all first drafts, written in a frenzy of despair and hope...I fly like an eagle but with the wings of a wren...'' The draft of the ''The Death Notebooks'' features Sexton's handwritten inscription, ''For Walter Kerr'', and includes an original poem entitled ''Jesus Walking''. These first drafts, all pages being photostatic copies, differ from the published works, with many additional verses present in these volumes. Over 120 pages in total, bound in custom quarter-leather boards with marbled endpapers, reading ''Anne Sexton / 1973'' on spine. Measures 8.75'' 11.25''. Some wear to boards, very good condition.
Extraordinary Bound Volume of ''raw, unworked poems'' by Anne Sexton in 1973 -- With Two Letters Signed to Critic Walter Kerr, Whom She Sent Them to, One Day After She Finished the Drafts
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