Statue in a Field

(No place, but Paris: Privately Printed, No date, but 1934). First edition of this collection of poems, the last poem in the book, "The River Flows", dated at the end "Paris, 1934". Presentation copy, inscribed on the front free endpaper (of the binding): "To Louise With love and gratitude / Solita December 1936." In addition, a small note is laid in that reads: "Louise dear - don't grieve & cry - It'll all be forgotten soon - so don't worry. Jamie." Statue in a Field consists of twenty-two poems, including the long sequence entitled "Frontispice" (sic) which consists of twelve sections and begins "I was a brown child." In literary circles, Solano is best known as the lover and secretary of Janet Flanner, the brilliant author of the "Letter from Paris" [1925-1940] and "Letter from France" [1944-1965] in the New Yorker. In the 1930s, Solano met and for a while became the secretary of the mystic G. I. Gurdjieff. She became an authority on Gurdjieff's philosophy and edited the works of Kathryn Hume on him. Among other followers of Gurdjieff were Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap, editors of the Little Review. It is possible that the person to whom Solano inscribed this copy of Statue in a Field was Louise Davidson, an actress and theater manager in Paris, who was also part of the Gurdjieff circle. Calf slightly scuffed, acidic paper somewhat browned as inevitable, otherwise a very good copy. Small 8vo, rebound in half-calf & marbled boards with original yellow front wrapper bound in. Calf slightly scuffed, acidic paper somewhat browned as inevitable, otherwise a very good copy.