"THE DENIAL OF ST. PETER" [prose poem]. TYPED MANUSCRIPT SIGNED (TMsS). Four paragraphs on full sheet of letter size paper, ribbon copy, dated "Apr. 15, 1929" in different typewriter at top left, several handwritten correction of typos, signed by Smith (black ink, forward slanting hand) at bottom, with an address ("Auburn, Calif.") at lower left corner. "A translation from Baudelaire, bitterly complaining about the flourishing of pain and evil in the world, a standard reaction to the juxtaposition of such things with claims of divine omniscience (a complaint that seems a little more petulant than usual since Baudelaire always seemed on such familiar terms with the sordid). The deliberately shocking message is muddied by Smith's recourse to Elizabethan pronouns, a common literary ruse meant to evoke the glamour and authority of the King James Bible." - Robert Eldridge. Sidney-Fryer, Donald. Emperor of Dreams: a Clark Ashton Smith Bibliography, p. 124 (as "Le Reniement de Saint Pierre"), unpublished. Tape repairs on verso reinforcing old fold creases, else fine. Provenance: Samuel Loveman papers. (#136442).
Price: $750.00
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