A Chronology of Books Written By Vachel
Lindsay
The following descriptions are of books by Vachel Lindsay which reside in my
collection of Lindsayana. I have read every one. I share my assessments here in the hope
that readers moved to further explore Vachel Lindsay’s life – AFTER you
purchase my book Vachel Lindsay: Strange Gold – will seek these books from
their local booksellers and enjoy them. Unless noted otherwise, all books are hardbound.
General William Booth Enters Into Heaven
1913 – Mitchell Kennerly, 119 pages
Apart from the dedication to Paul and Olive Wakefield and
acknowledgement of publishers of poems reprinted in this first volume, the book presents
poems from start to finish. He opens with General William Booth Enters Into Heaven
and ends with On the Building of Springfield. A superb first book!
Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty
1914 – The Macmillan Company, 186 pages
Dedicated to "Miss Sara Teasdale," this book of
narrative, verse and proclamations is devoted to his third walk. The story of his first
and second walks (A Handy Guide for Beggars) would follow later. Adventures is
an entertaining read with dated descriptions, as though a travel diary. Several poems,
including The Kallyope Yell, which would appear in his later books of poetry appear
first here. Especially noteworthy are his proclamations at book’s end, including the
first which begins, "Let it be proclaimed a d shouted over all the ploughlands of the
United States that the same ripening that brought our culture in New England one hundred
years ago is taking place in America today." This is an important book.
The Congo and Other Poems
1914 – The Macmillan Company, 159 pages
His second book of poems. Harriet Monroe, whose Poetry
Magazine launched him to the stars, writes the introduction. Poems The Santa Fe
Trail and Abe Lincoln Walks at Midnight are included. There’s even a
section entitled "Poems Intended to be Read Aloud, etc." If you know
Vachel’s work, you can probably guess the first poem in that section. . . . . . . . .
.. . The Congo. The variety of styles in this book is amazing. Vachel did not have
just one poetic voice. He had many. And they are amply evident here.
A Handy Guide For Beggars
1916 – The Macmillan Company, 205 pages
Vachel dedicates this book to "the children of Don
Quixote" and shares his store as though the central Illinois tramp was kin to the
original "Man of La Mancha." There is no drama, satire or comedy in this book,
but there are stories of people encountered during his first two walks. It’s not a
travel log or diary. He shares his walking goals and philosophy in detail and includes a
smattering of poems – "interludes" – which provide oases between some
of the chapters.
The Chinese Nightingale and Other Poems
September 1917 – The MacMillan Company, 127 pages
The book begins with the title poem as a section unto itself and
follows with sections: "America Watching the War...", "America at War with
Germany...", "Tragedies, Comedies and Dreams" and "The Poem
Games." There is no introduction. There are some terrific poems in this book,
including The Broncho That Would Not Be Broken, and Simon Legree.
The Golden Whales of California
January 1920 – The Macmillan Company, 181 pages
This is Vachel at his zenith. He would not write another book with so many poems shared
for the first time. Today, the poems that ring true to this reviewer can be counted on
tewer than the fingers of one hand. They are Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, The
Blacksmith’s Serenade and The Dream of All the Springfield Writers. His
poem The Daniel Jazz is a poem game, and it’s a better title than a rhyme.
Every poem is worth a first read. Anyone reading these words, who would chasten me for not
acknowldging more great Vachel poems is invited to further my education by enlightening me
with your opinion.
The Golden Book of Springfield
1920 – The Macmillan Company, 329 pages
This all-prose obsession of Vachel’s is thought to have distracted him when he could
have and should have been writing good poetry. The story – his prophecy –
of Springfield, Illinois in the year 2018 flows awkwardly, requiring the reaqder to go
along with a lot of the poet’s philosophy and lofty musintgs, a chittery, chattery
cartoon-ish world. It provides a glimpse of the man’s way of thinking about life, but
does not advance his art.
Going-To-The-Sun
1923 -- D. Appleton and Company, 101 pages
Vachel spent a lot of time researching Egyptian hieroglyphics, a
form of word-picture-based language. The results of his research dominate the content of
this book,k though there are poems about many varied subject. Poem titles include The
Mystic Rooster of the Montana Sunrise, ""Elizabeth Barrett Browning,"
"So Much the Worse forBoston," and The Rocket that Reached
Saturn." It is the first of Vachel’s three larger-size, thinner books of
101, 102 and 131 pages. His popularity as a world-beater bard was fading, but he would
fight against that setting sun like a cornered mountain lion.
Collected Poems
May 1923 – The Macmillan Comp;any, 390 pages
A truck could have run over the poet the year this book was
published, and many of his early fans would have missed the news. Almost all his
most-remembered poems had "met the press" by 1923. The edition in my collection
was quickly revised and reissued in 1925 with 74 more pages and illustrations of his art;
changes which would grace all subsequent editions.
The Candle in the Cabin
A Weaving Together of Script and Singing
1926 – D. Appleton and Company, 131 page
A reader needs to proceed no further than the first sentence in
this book to understand how the luster of the poet had begun to fade: " The
Spencerian System of Penmanship, known to our fathers, used the watch spring for a
decorative unit." This "Note by the Poet and Artist" explains his drawings.
Almost all of this, the first book written after he married Elizabeth Conner, deals with
mountains and forest rangers. Most seem echoes of cliches. All are light on the mind with
hints of ripples from earlier, deeper penetrations.
Going-To-The-Stars
1926 – D. Appleton and Company, 102 pages
Vachel is heralded on the front of the dust jacket and on the
title page as "Author of ‘Going-to-the-Sun’" suggesting he may have
enlisted significant new fans from the earlier book. The poems, which follow Vachel’s
engaging introduction, are more enjoyable than those in his earlier two thin books.
Included among them are A CurseFOr the Saxophone, Nancy Hanks Mother of Abraham
Lincoln, and These are the Young. Though there is major content devoted to
hieroglyphs, the free-wheeling style and the poems make this book easy to enjoy.
Johnny Appleseed and Other Poems
illustrated by George Richards
December 1928. revised 1930
The Macmillan Company, 144 pages
This book, intended by the publishers for younger readers, and
illustrated by a friend of Vachel’s went through at least 21 (by 1966) printings.
Poems therein are modern for their time and easily understood; no eulogies to obscure
actresses. The book is clearly the work of Macmillan, squeezing the last droplets of
market value from a former high-end producer. There is not a word of prose by Vachel in
the introduction.
The Litany of Washington Street
1929 – The Macmillan Company, 121 pages
Dedicated to Reverent Franklin T. and Claribel Sims Conner,
Elizabeth’s parents, the art in this prose volume is not Vachel’s. Washington
Street is a main east-west street that borders the north side of Springfield,
Illinois’ city square. In the book, Vachel lauds his heroes: Washington, Jefferson,
Lincoln, Whitman, and suggests there should be national holidays on their birthdays.
Included are many quotes from them and from some Vachel poems. The book is as much
prophecy as history;. He predicted that someday airplanes would be carrying Asians to
Springfield where they would be welcomed to "The Pilgrim City." The prose is
smoother to the eye than in The Golden Book of Springfield. This is the book Vachel
should have written to share his visions and hopes for his home town. It’s an
easy read and very educational.
Every Soul is a Circus
1929 – The Macmillan Company, 120 pages
"This book is inscribed to my dear wife Elizabeth Conner
Lindsay and our two small circuses, Susan Doniphan Lindsay and Nicholas Cave
Lindsay." In his "Inscription to the Entrance to a Book," he writes,
"Dear Parents: This is a book for precocious children, twelve or fifty years of
age." It is an amalgam of child-like poems with the focus on whimsy and supernatural
jocularity. It is also a glimpse of precocious-child humor in the USA before the market
crash, illustrated by Vachel and George M. Richards who also contributed to Johnny
Appleseed. In his advice to "parents" Vachel shares his views of educating
children and getting them involved with this kind of fun. The major poem in this book is The
Virginians Are Coming Again," an exhortation of the belief that the grand old
days of Robert E. Lee and his genteel ilk will rise once more, or as Bob Dylan said,
"The times, they are a changin."
Selected Poems of Vachel Lindsay
edited, with an introduction by Hazelton Spencer
1931 – The Macmillan Company, 226 page
To those who followed the poet’s writing, this book is the
first indication of rotting wood beneath his polished veneer. Speincer was working with
Vachel to produce a definitive volume of his poems, in part because of the poet’s
dissatisfaction with the 1925 Collected Poems. If the debacle of December 5 had not
happened, it’s likely (based on facts shared by the editor in his introduction) that
Spencer would have also written a biography of the poet. Especially poignant in this best
effort by Vachel to share what he wanted the public to know about him, is the placement of
the first poem in the book. Here was Vachel’s opportunity to tell the world something
very important, and for all the poet knew, it would be his last book of poems. The poem he
placed first in this book was The Chinese Nightingale, the poem he dedicated to
Sara Teasdale.
The Daniel Jazz and Other Poems
with a forward by Louis Untermeyer
"published by arrangement with The Macmillan Company" 223 pages
Armed Services Edition, softcover
pocket-size, landscape format
When George Bell and Company published Vachel’s book of the
same title in England, Vachel was disappointed with the content. He detested being called
a "jazz poet." In Mark Chenetier’s Letters of Vachel Lindsay Vachel
reveals, "I hate jazz like poison. It reeks of the dirty dance, and the hysteria that
is the utter destruction of American life." I suspect that the poems in the Armed
Services Edition present the same poems that were presented in the British book of the
same name, but I do not know this.
Selected Poems of Vachel Lindsay
edited by Mark Harris
1963 – The Macmillan Company, 210 pages
Mark Harris had already published some popular novels of his own (Bang the Drum Slowly and
The Southpaw) when he tackled this book. It’s the first serious post-30s
anthology of Vachel’s poems, and his introduction reveals a lot. The book’s
point of view is less supplicating to Vachel’s memory, the poems selected are modern
and harmonize well with the 60s, and it is an excellent read.
Adventures Rhymes and Designs by Vachel Lindsay
This publication includes
Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty
Rhymes to be Traded for Bread
The Village Improvement Parade
and selections from The Village Magazine
with an essay by Robert F. Sayre
1968 – The Eakins Press, 2897 pages
This compendium of early Vachel is
larger-format than the originals and easier to read. The Village Improvement Parade is
a series of drawings he gave away during his walking treks. Rhymes is a copy of
verse he gave away on the road also, but the size of the fonts and layout suggest, in the
photo copies of the originals, that the original was larger than the 6.5 inch x 9.5 inch
format of this book. Selections from The Village include several poems illustrated
with his drawings. The reprint of page 1 from War Bulletin Number One is
reduced-size but a rare glimpse of part of that publication. Considering how rare the
material reprinted here is, the publishers deserve a lot of credit for reprising it for
modern poets and fans.
Springfield Town is a Butterfly Town
preface by Louis Untermeyer
introduction by Pierre Dussert
1969 – Kent State University Press, 67 un-numbered pages
Louis Untermeyer, was an accomplished poet/journalist and a
friend of the "arrived" Vachel. In the preface to this thin collection of
children’s verse, he observes, "There are signs that there may be a Lindsay
revival." There may have been "signs," but there was no up-tick in the
poet’s popularity. Perhaps Dussert’s tracking down and sharing of several
previously unpublished and unreprinted poems may have inspired Untermeyer’s
observation. Dussert says the book is for adults too, and he’s right. Especially
commendable is the decision to include several Vachel pen drawings, each on separate
pages, which will be appreciated by many readers.
The Congo and Other Poems
1992 – Dover P&Ublications, Dover Thrift Edition, softbound, 92 page
The publisher explains that this version is based on the
original, though some poems have been reorganized. When I purchased it in 1992, its retail
price was $1.00. What a deal! This is a book to read often, and by the time you break the
binding from opening it so many times, you will have the best poems from the pages
residing in your head!
Vachel
December 1994 – Friends and Supporters of the Vachel Lindsay Association
large format, 8.5 x 11 inches, softbound, 55 pages
The memories of her uncle shared in the introduction by Martha
Wakefield Falcone (Vachel’s sister’s daughter) are a delightful "front
porch" from which to meet the 22 poems inside. Besides the two family album pictures
of Vachel with kin, there are large reproductions of many Vachel drawings and a black
& white photo of his painting The Potatoes’ Dance; which was created to
accompany his poem of the same name. Poem selection is first-rate, with most easily
understood by young children. It is a happy read, as suggested by the sunshine drawing on
the bright yellow cover.
Traveling Across American
Travel Writings of Vachel Lindsay
includes texts of
Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty
A Handy Guide for Beggars
forward by Nick Lindsay
introduction by Dan Guillory
1999 -- Rosehill Press, softbound, 245 pages plus 29 pages of forward and introduction
and 8 pages of Notes and References
Nicholas Cave Lindsay’s forward is as intereting as his
father’s prose and more readable. He brings a world of new connections to
Vachel’s life and body of work and leaves me hungering for more. Guillory’s
introduction compares Vachel as never before to modern 20th century writers and
catalogs the elements of his poems. An established Illinois historian, Guillory’s
style is even more conversational and accessible than the poet’s son. The forward and
introduction prepare the reader well for Vachel’s two "walking books" and
contribute significantly to our knowledge of the man as he echoes through the world today.
The Golden Book of Springfield
introduction by Ron Sakolsky, Preface by William Furry
1999 – Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, Lost Utopias series
softbound and hardbound editions
329 pages of the original text plus 117 pages of Preface, Introduction, References
Consulted and an explanation of Lindsay’s illustration Map of the Universe
Until he moved to Canada after nurturing this preprint
to fruition, Ron Sakolsky was a scholastically credentialed, modern personification of
Vachel Lindsay. His effort to publish this reprint, with a comprehensive modern
perspective on the poet and his world, will be appreciated by Vachel aficionados of the
most devoted kind and likely ignored by the "merely curious" laity. Preface
writer William Furry is a past President, Vachel Lindsay Association. The intro and
preface are printed in the smallish font necessary to accommodate the amount of new text,
but the text of Vachel’s book is slightly enlarged to fill the larger size of the
modern incarnation , compared with the original version. This book is highly recommended
for the scope and scholarship of the new material.
Books About Vachel Lindsay -
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