Synopses & Reviews
In the 1950s, Yale University Press published a number of Gertrude Stein's posthumous works, among them her incomparable
Stanzas in Meditation. Since that time, scholars have discovered that Stein's poem exists in several versions: a manuscript that Stein wrote and two typescripts that her partner Alice B. Toklas prepared. Toklasand#8217;s work on the second typescript changed the poem when, enraged upon detecting in it references to a former lover, she not only adjusted the typescript but insisted that Stein make revisions in the original manuscript.
This edition of Stanzas in Meditation is the first to confront the complicated story of its composition and revision. Through meticulous archival work, the editors present a reliable reading text of Stein's original manuscript, as well as an appendix with the textual variants among the poem's several versions. This record of Stein's multi-layered revisions enables readers to engage more fully with the author's radically experimental poem and also to detect the literary impact of Stein's relationship with Toklas. The editorsand#8217; preface and poet Joan Retallackand#8217;s introduction offer insight into the complexities of reading Stein's poetry and the innovative modes of reading that her works require and generate. Students and admirers of Stein will welcome this illuminating new contribution to Steinand#8217;s oeuvre.
Review
"Emily Setina and Susannah Hollister have undertaken the demanding, detailed task of preparing a reliable reading text of a grand, difficult text by one of our most important modernist writers. This critical edition will be the canonical version of Stanzas in Meditation."and#8212;Catharine R. Stimpson, New York University
Review
and#8220;Thanks to Joan Retallack's compelling introduction and the cogent editing of Susannah Hollister and Emily Setina, Stein's late masterpiece at last exists in its proper luminous clarity. It is wonderful that Stein's celebration of and#8220;the commonplace,and#8221; that most mysterious and opaque though omnipresent realm, is now available in this elegant and useful edition.and#8221;and#8212;Lyn Hejinian, author of The Language of Inquiry
Review
and#8220;Meticulously edited and lucidly presented by Susannah Hollister and Emily Setina, this edition of Stanzas in Meditation makes available a central work of literary modernism and sets a standard for future Stein editors.and#8221;and#8212;Edward Burns, editor of Textual Cultures
Synopsis
"Alphabets and names make games and everybody has a name and all the same they have in a way to have a birthday," muses Gertrude Stein in
To Do: A Book of Alphabets and Birthdays. Written in 1940 and intended as a follow-up to her children's book
The World Is Round, published the previous year,
To Do is a fanciful journey through the alphabet. Each letter is represented by four names (including Gertrude for "G") and features a short story told in verse. "[This is] a birthday book I would have liked as a child," said Stein of
To Do.
Publishers rejected the manuscript as too complex for children, and it remained unpublished during Stein's lifetime. A text-only version issued from Yale University Press in 1957. Now, more than seventy years after Stein penned the story, To Do is appearing with illustrations, realizing the author's original concept for the book. Giselle Potter's witty and stylish illustrations provide a perfect complement to Stein's uniquely whimsical world of words, creating a truly delightful, often hilarious book that adults and children alike can appreciate and love.
About the Author
' Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) was at the forefront of the development of modern art and literature. Her archive is housed in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. Giselle Potter has worked for the New Yorker and has illustrated more than twenty children\'s books. Timothy Young is curator of modern books and manuscripts at the Beinecke. '