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[Gelett Burgess, editor]. The Lark. San Francisco: C. A. Murdock & Co. [Part I] and William Doxey [Parts I-25], 1 May 18...
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Description
[Gelett Burgess, editor]. The Lark. San Francisco: C. A. Murdock & Co. [Part I] and William Doxey [Parts I-25], 1 May 1895 to 1 May 1897.25 unbound numbers (including two issues of Part 1), plus the Epi-Lark, 2 indices leaflets and another entitled "Prologue to the First Book of 'The Lark'." Together, 29 parts in all, 12mo. Printed on thin fragile paper. Illustrated throughout. Original pictorial wrappers, stapled as issued, uncut. Housed together in a cloth slipcase.
A UNIQUE SET IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS, INCLUDING THE EXTREMELY RARE FIRST ISSUE, SIGNED OR INSCRIBED BY BURGESS FIFTEEN TIMES AND WITH A NUMBER OF HIS ORIGINAL "GOOP" DRAWINGS.
FIRST EDITION COMPLETE SET OF THE LARK, WITH THE VERY RARE FIRST ISSUE OF NO. 1. This set includes both the Murdock and Doxey issues of the first number. Begun by Burgess with Bruce Porter, and with cover illustrations and sketches by the editors, Ernest Peixotto, Florence Lundborg, and Willis Polk. This remarkable set includes Number 1 in first issue (Murdock imprint), followed by Numbers 1-25 published by Doxey, concluding with The Epi-Lark. Also includes two contents leaflets, 1896 and 1897, respectively, as well as the separate "Prologue to the First Book of 'The Lark'." Inserted in the set are two copies of the portrait of Pico Della Mirandola. Number 2 has the inserted portrait of R. L. Stevenson.
Number 1: PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed by Burgess on the cover in ink: "Harriet Sprague / Her Lark / Gelett Burgess [with his monogram]". This is the rare first issue of Number 1, with the C. A. Murdock & Co. imprint.
Number 5: signed in pencil by Burgess, added his monogram, as well as a pencil drawing of a "Goop." It is signed a second time and dated "1895."
Number 7: inscribed on the cover in pencil: "The Awful Number! Gelett Burgess."
Number 8: contains his signature, monogram and drawing of a "Goop" in pencil.
Number 9: inscribed "Compliments of Gelett Burgess." This number has four silhouettes of "Les Jeunes," all of whom Burgess had identified in pencil with initials under their profiles, with the note: "As identified by G. B. & E. P. - see names opposite."
Number 10: inscribed in pencil "To Morgan Shepard, Frank Gelett Burgess," with a drawing of a "Goop." Shepard, a minor member of Burgess's group referred to as "Les Jeunes," was Burgess' neighbor and friend.
Number 11: inscribed on the cover in pencil "Compliments of Gelett Burgess 1896," with his monogram.
Number 12: signed above his monogram, and with a drawing of a "Goop" on the cover in pencil.
Number 13: signed and dated with a drawing of a "Goop," at center in pencil.
Number 14: contains another inscription in pencil inside "To my friend Morgan Shepard. Frank Gelett Burgess."
Number 15: signed and dated by Burgess in pencil.
Number 18: signed twice by author and book collector Carolyn Wells, became a contributor to this number, despite Burgess's resistance to an unknown female. She has added her signature in ink to her two anonymous poetical contributions.
Number 22: contains the 4-page February, 1897 insert "Vals de Monterey Viejo" illustrated by Maynard Dixon, with a self-portrait illustrated on the cover. Carolyn Wells has signed her contribution in ink inside as well.
Number 24: as a farewell, Burgess has signed in ink the last page of the Epi-Lark in ink and with monogram.
Burgess inscriptions are very rare, and according to Carroll Wilson, "Burgess never autographs nor presents his works" (Thirteen Author Collections, I, p. 250).
"One of the most charming magazines ever published... the fame of the little magazine was made by the quatrains, villanelles and rondeaux, fables and aphorisms, nonsense rhymes and children's verse by the editors" (Mott IV, p. 388). Number 1 contains Gelett Burgess' famous"Purple Cow," and many other classic pieces of California light prose and poetry throughout.
Condition: First issue Number 1 with one-inch tear at top, and small hole in the "Purple Cow" illustration, affecting two letters on the previous page, but not affecting the famous lines; some toning; usual wear given the fragility of the paper, including marginal fraying, chipping, creasing, and toning; several unopened leaves; a few paper flaws. Overall, an excellent set of a work printed on fragile brownish bamboo paper, a bale of which Burgess found in San Francisco's Chinatown.
References: Johnson, You Know These Lines, p. 137; Lomazow 1054 (not first issue); Carolyn Wells, "What a Lark!," In: The Colophon, part 8, 1931.
Provenance: Purchased from Howard S. Mott, Inc., Sheffield, Mass., 19 June 2014. From the William A. Strutz Library.
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Auction Info
2024 December 11 Important English and American Literature: The William A. Strutz Library, Part II, Rare Books Signature® Auction #6300 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
December, 2024
11th
Wednesday
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