THE SEVEN AGES: WITH "SOLSTICE" BROADSIDE

Hopewell, NJ: The Ecco Press, 2001. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. Hopewell, NJ: The Ecco Press, 2001. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 68 pages. Rare Louise Gluck collectible set. Pristine copies of "The Seven Ages" and "Solstice" Poem Broadside, both signed by Louise Gluck. "The Seven Ages": The author's ninth collection of poems. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now rare. Presents Louise Gluck's "The Seven Ages". Her boldest poetic statement since "The Wild Iris" (1992). Brilliantly deploys the metaphors of Myth and Nature to describe - need one point it out - the irresoluble complexity of our human condition. "Investigates the disappointments, unfinished quests, and unanswered questions that compose, arrange, and ruin a life. Wise, densely crafted meditations" (Publishers Weekly). Just as C. P. Cavafy, the greatest Greek poet of the 20th century, found a way to fuse the mythical with the personal, so has Louise Gluck. As such, her greatest achievement is that she has found a permanent way out of the confessional mode - otherwise so irresistible - that most, not just some, contemporary American poets continue to wallow in, especially the "identity politics" kind (feminist, "patriotic"/uber-masculine, LGBTQ, etcetera). The point is not to reject identity, but to transcend it, in all of its narcissistic forms, as all great art does. "Solstice" Poem Broadside: Limited Edition of 25 signed copies. Size is 9 X 12 inches. Printed on thick, uncoated cream stock paper in the United States to the highest standards. Eminently suitable for framing. In publisher's protective plastic sleeve. Without DJ, as issued. "Solstice", one of the poet's personal favorites, is the sixth poem and appears on Page 10 of "The Seven Ages". An absolute "must-have" collectible, not just memorabilia, set for Louise Gluck collectors. This copy of "The Seven Ages" is very prominently and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Louise Gluck. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. It comes with a copy of the "Solstice" Poem Broadside Limited Edition of 25 copies, also very prominently and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on recto by the poet. This title is a great collection. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy (with Signed Broadside) of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. A rare signed set thus. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1985 for "The Triumph of Achilles". Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for "The Wild Iris". America's Poet Laureate in 2003 and 2004. Winner of the Nobel Prize For Literature in 2020. One of the greatest poet/writers of our time. A fine collectible set. (SEE ALSO OTHER LOUISE GLUCK TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0060185260.