Jack Kelso: A Dramatic Poem.

New York: D. Appleton and Company, MCMXXVIII. First Editon. Octavo, navy blue cloth (hardcover), gilt letters & illus. to upper cover, uncut, 264 pp. Fine, in a torn (several very large chips), mylar protected dust jacket. From dust jacket: Mr. Masters in this poem has created the figure of Jack Kelso as a poet and wanderer with the dimensions of a universal character. To history, Kelso is known as the companion of Lincoln during the early days in New Salem, and as the friend who taught him to enjoy Shakespeare and Robert Burns. In these pages, Kelso is witness to te pageant of American history from 1831 to the present time. His story treats of the Blackhawk War; the Mexican War and the acquisition of Texas; the civil War and te Spanish American War, and te World War, with their effects upon liberty and te purity of government. All is told in rapid and epigrammatic dialogue between characters like Douglas, Lincoln, Kit Carson, Brigham Young and very many more; all in the plot and shifting scenes of the epic story. The drift of American life is revealed; the cahnging and bewildered character of the people is shown, the whole being pointed with humor and satire and with crucial analysis. In Jack Kelso’s life lies an epic of American life. (Inventory #: ess4606)