The Raven
Price: $6,500.00
Robinson, Alan James. Hard Cover. Easthampton, MA: Cheloniidae Press, 1980. Limited. Fine.
Etchings and wood engravings by Alan James Robinson. Folio. Deluxe signed limited edition. One of 25 copies signed and numbered by the artist, this being number 8 ("VIII/XXV"). Publisher's black paper-covered boards, with special marbled cover design by Stephen Auger to front board, with five original etchings and two signed and numbered wood engravings ("108/200") laid in, hand-bound by David Bourbeau at Thistle Bindery; with a separate publisher's black cloth-covered folder, numbered "VIII/XXV" in gilt to bottom right of front board, containing five etchings signed and numbered by the artist in pencil; housed in publisher's black quarter morocco clamshell box, lettered in gilt. Fine book; fine folder and signed etchings; near fine clamshell box, with a light bump to top edge of front cover, and some light marks to covers. Overall, a magnificent and scarce edition of Poe's timelessly haunting poem. "The Raven" is Edgar Allan Poe's most famous poem, and one of the most famous poems in the English language. In the eerie and lilting piece, the narrator, mourning the loss of a woman named Lenore, is visited by a raven who perches on a bust by the door. The narrator asks the raven a series of questions, in an increasingly desolate manner, to which the raven's repeated reply is "Nevermore." The poem first appeared in the New York Evening Mirror in January of 1845, for which Poe received fifteen dollars. In 1846, Poe published an influential essay, "The Philosophy of Composition," in which he goes into minute detail about his development of the poem. Item #EAP014
