CUMMINGS, E[dward] E[stlin]; Ben Shahn (illus.)

Tom

New York: Arrow Editions, 1935. First, Limited Edition (1500 copies). Octavo (22cm); dark red cloth, stamped in foil; color frontispiece by Ben Shahn; 36pp, frontis. Light soiling and wear to boards; textblock fore edge deckled, toning to page margins with light foxing intermittent throughout. Overall Near Fine, without dustwrapper.

E.E. Cummings' Tom is the author's avant-garde attempt to interpret Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin as a ballet. Gestures are described through Cummings' prose-poetry, while the characters themselves are reimagined as doll-like entities. While Cummings intended for this project to eventually make it to a real stage, it was never performed in his lifetime, having seen multiple rejections for its inaccessibility.

Price: $85.00

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