American poetry printed in Paris

Kenneth PHILLIPS BRITTON (1901-1964)

Winter’s Back in Town. Paris: [Lecram Press], 1927. Square 12mo (4 5/8 x 4 5/8im; 117 x 117mm). Wood-cut frontispiece, signed in the plate with an ‘SC’ monogram. Original faux reversed-calf-covered boards, lettered in red on the upper cover (rebacked, some splitting to inner hinges, some spotting, corners bumped and rubbed [see images]). Provenance: author’s Christmas presentation inscription [see images].

Author’s presentation copy of a rare work: one other for sale ($275), and two copies on OCLC. Poetry from a quite a wide-ranging but now forgotten writer. In addition to having his poetry published in ‘The New York Herald Tribune’, Britton also wrote for the ‘New Yorker’, and was a playwright whose plays were produced on Broadway ( ‘Houseparty’ in 1930 and ‘The Sophistocrats’ in 1933). In 1948, he appeared in a minor role (Mailman Farley) in the movie ‘Jiggs and Maggie in Court’: this seems to have been his only credited film role.