{"product_id":"williams-the-wedge","title":"William Carlos Williams. The Wedge.","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCummington: Cummington Press, 1944.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e12mo.; age-toned; orange paste-paper boards; spine sunned; rubbed; lightly bumped.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLimited edition \u003c\/strong\u003eof 380 copies printed on Dacian paper.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA pocket-sized collection of Williams’s poetry intended to be carried by US servicemen during World War II. Despite the poet’s inquiries and the nature of the requests that prompted him to approach them, several publishers rejected \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Wedge\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. Their grounds for doing so were a perceived lack of literary quality and wartime shortages. The book was eventually handset printed by Henry Duncan and Wightman Williams at Cummington Press and bound surreptitiously on the premises and at the expense of one of the publishers who had previously rejected it. The book is dedicated to poet Louis Zukofsky, who helped Williams revise and rearrange the poems for publication.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWilliams’s original concept for \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Wedge\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e was for it to contain several forms of writing. These would include improvisational works he wrote in the 1920s, prose and selections from his play \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMany Loves\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. Eventually, with Zukofsky's assistance, Williams narrowed the book's focus. He reduced the book's material, eliminated the prose selections but added an introduction based on an address he gave at the New York Public Library in October 1943. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMany of the poems in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Wedge\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, composed during the late 1930s, were initially intended for the book-length poem \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePaterson\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. It is even a direct predecessor: the poem “Paterson: the Falls” lays out both the later poem's theme and its eventual format. Williams wrote to poet and publisher James Laughlin in 1943, “\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePaterson\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is coming along—[\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Wedge\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e] is a personal finger-practicing to assist me in that: but that isn't all it is.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Glenn Horowitz Bookseller","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47744589627566,"sku":null,"price":950.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0571\/6325\/1886\/files\/IMG_7188.jpg?v=1776370341","url":"https:\/\/shop.glennhorowitz.com\/products\/williams-the-wedge","provider":"Glenn Horowitz Bookseller","version":"1.0","type":"link"}