Williams, Tennessee [Williams III, Thomas Lanier]

The 1932 Savitar A History of the University of Missouri for the Year 1931-1932 [First Appearance of any Tennessee Williams Poem in book form -- and possibly the first appearance by him of any work in any published book]; [Annual/Yearbook for the University of Missouri]

Columbia, MO: University of Missouri, 1932. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. An overall Very Good + copy of the first edition, first printing, of the Savitar, the 1931 -1932 Annual (or Yearbook) for the University of Missouri, published in 1932. The volume is in Very Good condition with a stamp and ownership signature to the front pastedown and some rubbing and wear to the covers, but is easily in better condition copy than the few other copies that we have seen over the past several decades with pages (including the tissue guards) being bright and clean. This unsophisticated volume contains seven (7) tissue guards, one located prior to each "Book" within. Thomas Lanier Williams (generally known by his pen name "Tennessee Williams") attended the University of Missouri from 1929 to 1931. While there, Williams joined the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. While he did not fit in well at his Fraternity, being a member of it led to his obtaining the name by which he later came to fame as it was during his time there that his fraternity brothers dubbed him "Tennessee" for his rich southern drawl. His earliest writings named him as Thomas Lanier Williams, but he published his later, and famous, works under his "new" name "Tennessee Williams". This issue of Savitar contains the first of his Poems to be published in book form and is (as far as we have been able to determine) his first published Poem and the first publication of any work by him in book form. The Poem is therein printed on page 249 under the title "Not Without Knowledge" (some may identify the Poem as "The Kiss"). No other text is located on that page. His Fraternity is featured on page 224 where he is named as "Thomas L. Williams" of Saint Louis and the Class of 1933, but his image does not appear. Under his Poem on page 249, he is identified as "Thomas Lanier Williams", a member of the "Missouri Chapter of the College Poetry Society." Thus we have hear a quite scarce copy of the first appearance of any work by the renowned writer in book form (and also perhaps the first appearance in any form of any published Poem by him) issued by the institution where his famous name "Tennessee" was born but not published. QUITE SCARCE INDEED. Very good. Item #3424

Price: $850.00