USA WITH MUSIC: An Operatic Tragedy.

First edition. Limited edition, number 342 of 400 copies printed. Publisher's original card wrappers with titles in black to the upper cover. Page edges untrimmed. Contained within a later custom card slipcase with a reproduction of the title page mounted to one of the side panels. A very good copy indeed, the binding square and firm with minor wear to the spine ends and a little scattered foxing. The contents with some occasional light foxing to the preliminary pages and page edges are otherwise clean throughout and remain free from any previous owners' inscriptions or stamps. An unusually attractive copy.

The first edition of American poet, journalist and left-wing activist Walter Lowenfels' play inspired by the killing of several striking minors in Herrin, Illinois. A member of the Communist Party USA, Lowenfels was a veteran campaigner for a variety of causes who was notably arrested by the FBI in 1953 for conspiracy to overthrow the government. Best known as an anthologist of avant-garde poetry, his most famous work was 'Where is Vietnam?' (1967), a compilation of the poetic responses to the Vietnam War. The present work was published by the Carrefour Press, which Lowenfels established with Michael Fraenkel in Paris in 1930. Carrefour's most notable publication was the pamphlet 'Anonymous: The Need for Anonymity', a manifesto declaring the need for anonymous publication in order to "avoid artistic competition and alienation". The publication of Lowenfels' play effectively undid these efforts, as he was forced to reveal his authorship in 1932 when the press filed a plagiarism suit against the composer George Gershwin.