Thursday, April 10, 2008

A Fine Excess


The New York Times has a story, and accompanying slideshow, about a new exhibit being shown at Atlanta's Emory University.

The collection? The most important collection of poetry in the world - the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library. From the story:

Mr. Danowski, an American-born fine arts dealer and collector who now splits his time between Britain and South Africa, stockpiled more than 75,000 rare books, posters, periodicals and recordings; the collection comprises a nearly complete record of all published English-language poetry in the 20th century.

I think we need to repeat that again, a nearly complete record of all published English-language poetry in the 20th century.

Some of the highlights:
Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass," first edition.
Sylvia Plath's "Ariel," review copy with handwritten notes within by Anne Sexton.
Hart Crane's "The Bridge," of which there are only 25 known copies.

Pretty amazing stuff. So amazing, I shall write a haiku about it...

Oh, that Danowski
Collecting fine poetry
I wish I was rich.

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