CUMMINGS, E. E.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

CIOPW. First edition, number 387 of 391 copies signed by the author in green watercolour on the title page. This copy is additionally signed by Cummings on the front free endpaper and belonged to his friend and French translator, David Jonathan Grossman.Grossman (1922-1990) had first met Cummings whilst attending Peter Monro Jack's course at Columbia night school in 1941-42. After serving in the Second World War, Grossman attended Harvard in 1946 and began writing a thesis on Cummings, which he never finished. By 1960 he had published his first translation, and in 1980 he was awarded the Prix Halperine-Kaminsky for his Cummings translations.Loosely inserted is a 1944 art catalogue printed by the American British Art Centre which includes a foreword and two oil painting prints by Cummings. Grossman's shelf label is on the catalogue's front cover.The title is an acronym for the various media Cummings used in his artwork: charcoal, ink, oil, paint, and watercolours. Cummings also used a red or blue watercolour when signing the title pages; Firmage indicates no priority.

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.