STERLING, George.
The Caged-Eagle and Other Poems.
FIRST EDITION — INSCRIBED BY STERLING TO CHARLES W. DUNCAN, WITH AUTHOR'S INK CORRECTIONS. San Francisco: A. M. Robertson, 1916.
Inscribed by Sterling on the front pastedown: "Dear Charlie: The caged eagles now are the gold ones. Damn the Kaiser! Ferociously yours, George Sterling. San Francisco, Nov. 15, 1919." The half-title further inscribed "For Charlie W. Duncan." With three ink corrections in Sterling's hand.
Octavo. 167, [1] pp. Original green cloth with gilt lettering and decoration; in the publisher's uncommon dust jacket. The collection gathers 83 poems in four parts, closing with a substantial section of poems "On the Great War" (pp. 117–168). Printed dedication to Raphael Weill, Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. BAL 18767; Mattila A12. Fading to the spine; minor wear to spine ends; some fading to the gilt on the front cover; a short closed tear on p. 145; a 2½-inch triangular loss to the upper corner of the rear endpaper; else very good. The dust jacket is in unusually fine condition.
George Sterling (1869–1926) was a central figure of the West Coast "Bohemian" literary movement of the early twentieth century. Among the most personal of Sterling's California-period collections, The Caged-Eagle devotes nearly a third of its pages to the First World War. The 1919 inscription — three years after publication and a year after the Armistice — carries the same wartime feeling forward, with Sterling's "Damn the Kaiser!" The three author's ink corrections, the inscription and inscribed half-title, and the scarce dust jacket in unusually fine state make this a strong association copy of one of Sterling's wartime books.
SKU TO-2026-022
