Item #005492684 Ballad of a Lost Man. Typed Manuscript Poem. Conrad Aiken.
Ballad of a Lost Man. Typed Manuscript Poem

Ballad of a Lost Man. Typed Manuscript Poem

na, 1923. Unknown. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. Good / No Jacket. Item #005492684

Unrecorded and unpublished typed manuscript poem by Conrad Aiken titled 'Ballad of a Lost Man', from the papers of Dean Lebaron Russell Briggs of Harvard University, one of the key formative influences in Aiken's life. The poem (first line 'I met a man whose face was fair'), which appears unpublished, is of 48 lines. Typed on bond stock, with ink corrections in Aiken's distinctive hand. It bears a pencil note on verso, apparently in Dean Briggs' hand, that it dates from 1923-24. Conrad Aiken (1889-1973), noted American author, United States Poet Laureate 1950-52. Aiken called Briggs 'one of the few genuine saints that Harvard College has produced'. After Santayana, Briggs would have been one of Aiken's most important early influences. For more background on Aiken's relationship with Briggs see Aiken's 'The Clerk's Journal: Being the Diary of a Queer Man: An Undergraduate Poem'. LeBaron Russell Briggs (1855-1934), one of the great figures in the history of Harvard, Radcliffe, and the NCAA. Briggs was first Dean of Men at Harvard College, where he also served as dean of the faculty. He was also president of Radcliffe College and the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Price: $1,250.00

See all items by