![\"Stevens1\"](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/rring\/files\/2016\/05\/Stevens1.jpg\")
<\/a>Wallace Stevens\u2019 Esth\u00e9tique du Mal<\/em> was published in July 1945. Holly Stevens, the poet\u2019s daughter, gave the book to the Watkinson and it is one of 300 copies printed. The modestly sized book is made from luxurious materials that Stevens personally selected. The cover is decorated with vibrant blue Natsume straw-paper and the poem is printed on supple pace paper. Abstract illustrations by Wightman Williams accompany the poem. <\/a>George Dillon, the critic who reviewed the book when it was first published, likened Williams\u2019 designs to the \u201cmarginal doodlings of his satanic majesty\u201d (97). Dillon\u2019s assessment seems an apt description of the bizarre illustrations. However, the drawings and the fine materials Stevens selected make the book a visually interesting object. Dillon admitted that the book was an artistic achievement and called it \u201ca blue phenomenon\u201d (97). He writes, \u201chis [Stevens\u2019] new long poem [\u2026] has been made into something which belongs to the d\u00e9cor of opulence\u201d (97).<\/p>\nStevens, no doubt, would have been pleased by Dillon\u2019s assessment. His 1945 correspondence reveals that he was deeply concerned with how the book would look and function, not poetically, but as a physical art object. Between June and November, Stevens wrote three times to his friend and multimedia artist James Guthrie. In each letter, all of which can be found at the Watkinson, Stevens talks almost exclusively about the book, its materials, its design, and the process of its printing. In his responses to Stevens\u2019 letters, Guthrie attempts to open up the discussion and talk about current events and his own poetic endeavors, but Stevens always directs the conversation back to Esth\u00e9tique du Mal<\/em>. It seems that for the good portion of 1945, the book\u2019s production was one of Stevens\u2019 main interests, and, at times, the cause of great stress.<\/p>\n By October, Stevens was still certain that the book\u2019s printing job \u201cdefinitely add[ed] to the text.\u201d However, in his letters, Stevens seems less happy with the book and the press. He mentions to Guthrie that he is weary about Duncan\u2019s and Williams\u2019 desire to \u201cuse color to some extent\u201d in the poem\u2019s text. Stevens downplays his reluctance to Guthrie, but in a letter to Duncan, Stevens does not hold back. Stevens explains, \u201cI cannot think of a decent book that I have in which the text is printed in colored ink, and I am strongly against it. However, I leave the make of the book to you<\/u>\u201d (Cummington Press Correspondence10). Not surprisingly, the poem was printed in black ink.<\/p>\n In addition to questioning Duncan\u2019s and Williams\u2019 creative sensibilities, Stevens was also displeased with the delay of the book\u2019s publication. He explains to Guthrie that the book\u2019s production is behind schedule and that the press \u201cfeels victimized.\u201d Considering the technology Duncan and Williams were dealing with and the bullying tone Stevens often took with them, perhaps the pair had good reason for feeling that way. The hand-press, which \u201cwas operated manually by two people and resembled the press that Gutenberg invented,\u201d could only work on cool days with high humidity (NewYorkTimesObit<\/a>). This made printing mostly seasonal and not nearly as efficient as the high-powered executive poet would like it to be. In addition, because of World War II the press continuously experienced paper shortages. At one point, Duncan and Williams had to use Pink straw-paper for the cover instead of the blue Stevens had selected. As one can imagine, Stevens was not pleased. For Stevens, neither the war nor technological glitches seemed good reasons for the delay of the book\u2019s printing. He writes to Guthrie that the book really \u201cought to have been published by this time\u201d (Oct 18 1945).<\/p>\n Based on his correspondence, it is clear that Stevens spent a lot of time thinking about the book\u2019s production and its appearance. Indeed, as far as Esth\u00e9tique du Mal<\/em> was concerned, Stevens was as much, if not more, interested in how the booked looked as he was with the poetry it contained. When the book was finally finished in November, four months after publication date written on the title page, Stevens sent a copy to good old Guthrie. In his letter he writes, \u201cI shall be interested to know what you, yourself, think, not about the poetry, but about the book\u201d (Nov 23 1945). \u00a0Stevens\u2019 preoccupation with the aesthetic appearance of this material object seems to give credence Robert Frost\u2019s critique that Stevens was a poet of \u201cbric-a-brac\u201d (NewYorker<\/a>). Admittedly, Stevens\u2019 discussion of the book suggests that it can be seen as one of many beautiful objects that interested the insurance executive, who lived well and was unopposed to weaving images of material comfort into his poetry. When publishing Esth\u00e9tique du Mal<\/em>, Stevens insured that the book could fit seamlessly into the world he depicts in \u201cSunday Morning.\u201d Indeed, we can picture it now: there is the woman in her \u201cpeignoir,\u201d there is the green\u00a0 \u201ccockatoo\/ upon the rug,\u201d and there is the blue phenomenon lying casually on the drawing room table.<\/p>\n Works Cited<\/p>\n Dillon, Geroge. “A Blue Phenomenon: Esth\u00e9tique du Mal by Wallace Stevens, Wightman Williams.” Poetry<\/em> 68.2 (1946): 97-100. Print.<\/p>\n Masel, Carolyn, ed. “Stevens, Wallace. Wallace Stevens-Cummington Press Correspondence, 1941-1951.” Libraries of the University of Missouri: Special Collections and Rare Books<\/em>. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2016. <http:\/\/library.missouri.edu\/specialcollections\/stevens-wallace-wallace-stevens-cummington-press-correspondence-1941-1951\/>.<\/p>\n Pace, Eric. “Harry Duncan, 80, Hand Printer of Literary Works, Dies.” New York Times<\/em> [New York] 23 Apr. 1997, Art.<\/p>\n Schjeldahl, Pater. “Insurance Man.” The New Yorker<\/em> 2 May 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [Posted by Bridget Reilly for ENG 812 Modern Poetry, Professor Rosen] Wallace Stevens\u2019 Esth\u00e9tique du Mal was published in July 1945. Holly Stevens, the poet\u2019s daughter, gave the book to the Watkinson and it is one of 300 copies printed. The modestly sized book is made from luxurious materials that Stevens personally selected. The cover […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[20,13,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/rring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/rring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/rring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/rring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/rring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/rring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":786,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/rring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778\/revisions\/786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/rring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/rring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/rring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>However, in June, Stevens writes optimistically about Cummington Press, the small boutique printer he was working with. He informs Guthrie that the press is \u201creally the work of not that much more than one man [Harry Duncan],\u201d and his partner Wightman Williams (the books illustrator). He explains that the work they do is \u201cquite extraordinary\u201d (June 25 1945).<\/p>\n