May 24th Or So [Inscribed to Kenward Elmslie]

NY: Tibor de Nagy Editions, 1966. 1st Edition . Soft cover. Very Good. NY: Tibor de Nagy Editions, 1966. First edition. One of 300 copies. 27pp. Square 8vo. Signature-bound in wraps. Wraps toned, irregularly to rear. Bump with attendant cover creases to bottom leading corner. Some hinge wear. Very good. Inscribed by Schuyler on the title page: "for KGE - more from The Black Trunk - love, Jimmy." From the library of New York School poet, librettist, and publisher Kenward Elmslie (1929-2022), as inscribed to him. Schuyler's third book of poems, published by Tibor de Nagy, the art gallery whose publishing wing was of vital support to the first generation of New York School poets. Schuyler and Elmslie enjoyed a long and at times tempestuous friendship. In 1964, the two collaborated on a one-act play, Unpacking the Black Trunk, to which Schuyler's inscription here makes reference. Schuyler was a frequent visitor to Elmslie's Calais, Vermont summer home, Poet's Corner, and set numerous poems there, including "Vermont Diary" and "Evenings in Vermont." There he also suffered a serious breakdown in July, 1971: "I lost my (cosmic) temper & Kenward, who does not hesitate when duty calls & fetched a doc & here I am where I can do most good & have most fun," Schuyler wrote soon after in a letter to Anne and Fairfield Porter from Vermont General Hospital, where he spent several months recovering (William Corbett, ed. Just the Thing, p. 353). That incident and others like it put a strain on his relationship with Elmslie, who nonetheless continued to support Schuyler as both publisher and friend.