Eight Manuscript Poems by Frost, Robert - 1946

1946. Octavo. (8)ff. A manuscript poetry chapbook handmade by Robert Frost and inscribed by the poet with the dedication, "A Preview / for Nita and Doc / from / R. F. / After a good Bread Loaf / 1946." "Doc" refers to Frost's friend Reginald Cook, a Middlebury professor who was the director of the Bread Loaf School of English for many years. Frost met Cook in the mid-1920s, and they remained friends until the poet's death in 1963. Cook kept written records of his conversations with Frost and transcribed his lectures, and he later published the book Dimensions of Robert Frost in 1958. This collection of poems was presented to Cook and his wife after his first session as director in 1946. The eight verses copied in Frost's hand are "To an Ancient," "Something to Hope For" (published as "Something for Hope"), "One Step Backward Taken," "Why Wait for Science," "But He Meant It" (re-titled "The Broken Drought"), "The Courage to Be New," "A Mood Apart," and "Bravado." These were a preview of some of Frost's new poems, all of which would be published in his 1947 collection Steeple Bush. Apart from the changes of title, most of the poems appear in the chapbook exactly as they would in publication. However, in the chapbook, "Courage to Be New" is followed by a four line postscript, and four changes in wording were made to lines in "Something for Hope." These changes reveal slight shifts in sound and sense, showing how Frost continued to edit and refine his work. Bound together in side-stitched self-wrappers. Very fine.