Four (4) Pamphlets on Poetry by Ernest Robson
- Parker Ford, Penn.: Primary Press, 1975-1977
First Thus. Four pamphlets, each from 10 to 20 pages, with scattered illustrations. Small 4to. Very good. Saddle-stapled. [1890]
Four pamphlets on poetic theory by experimental poet Ernest M. Robson, published by Primary Press (presumed to be Robson's own imprint) and distributed by Dufour editions. Individual titles are: [1] Prosodynic Print: An Orthographic Way of Writing English Prosody, by Ernest and Marion Robson. 16pp. An offprint from Visible Language, vol. IX, no. 4. 1975. [2] Poetry as Performance Art, On and Off the Page. 16pp. 1976. [3] Poetic Potentials in Information of Astronomy. 10pp. 1976. [4] Vowel and Diphthong Tones: New Procedures for Sound Poets. 20pp. 1977. In each, Robson affects a technical, quasi-scientific style in the essays, which tone is matched by the austere typographical presentation of the pamphlets which, as Johanna Drucker noted in a recent Substack post, have a "bureaucratic aesthetic" as if "the appropriate context for its appearance might be a medical administration association conference hotel in the Midwest in the 1970s." Behind it is nevertheless a well-developed if idiosyncratic system for the scoring and performance of sound poetry, employed elsewhere by the author in his own poetry book publications and performances.
Details
Title
Four (4) Pamphlets on Poetry by Ernest Robson
Author
Robson, Ernest
Condition
Unknown
Publisher
Primary Press: Parker Ford, Penn.
Date
1975-1977