My Last Friend Dog Dick - inscribed to Sidney Lanier Jr. from Lista, Burt and Caruso (!)
Boston: The Stratford Company, C. 1916. Hardcover. First American edition. 8vo, red cloth, light wear and soil, spine faded. Inscribed on the pastedown to Sidney Lanier Jr. from the translator, also signed on the flyleaf ("Bravo Lista!") by Enrico Caruso, and inscribed also very fondly on the half title to Lanier from the translator ("With Compliments of the Country Cobbler and Translator) dated January 2nd, 1917. The recipient, Sidney Lanier Jr., was the son of a famous Confederate poet and musician, who died in 1881. Sidney ran an interesting camp in Eliot Maine. According to the website Mainmemories: "At Camp Sidney Lanier in Eliot, campers acted out Bible dramas written by Sidney Lanier Jr. (1870-1918) every Sunday in the woods. Lanier, using ideas developed by his father, poet Sidney Lanier Sr. (1870-1918), attempted to teach children the "art of living." They participated in a strict routine of music, crafts, nature study, and other activities. Children went through a hierarchy of types of social organization to reach the highest form, which was spiritual and represented by farm and home. " Finally, at the end of the book, a blank page is inscribed from Elizabeth Lanier to her grandson, explaining the connection between Burt and the Lanier family, dated 1933. A great association copy of this particular book. Very Good. Item #H8242
Price: $750.00