Islanded

Special binding of “Islanded” with copper foil over boards, and gold-stamped title and author.

In early 1934, a monthly literary magazine called Dune Forum appeared out of Oceano, a tiny, unincorporated seaside community in San Luis Obispo County, California. Oceano had hitherto been known as the home of a utopian Theosophical religious community called Halcyon, founded in 1903. Dune Forum was sold at a select few of California’s literary hotspots, including Paul Elder’s bookstore, UC Berkeley and Stanford University, and bookstores in Santa Cruz, Carmel, Ojai, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles. The magazine only lasted seven issues, but included contributions from such notables as poet Robin Lampson, musician John Cage, and poet John Varian of the Halcyon community.

The February 1934 issue of Dune Forum contained this note in a section called “Northern Lights:”

San Francisco never ceases to delight us. As this magazine is printed there, we have to attend its monthly rebirth, and each time we journey thither, further proofs of its fascination crowd in upon us, each with a new surprise. This trip is already full of memories. Mrs. Maflo [Mary Florence] Ryan gave a benefit reception for young Dwight Strickland, a cynical poet in the contemporary stream of defeatism, yet curiously remindful of the mauve decade. His book of verse, “Islanded” has recently been brought out by Paul Elder, and for much of its contents, is worthy of your attention. Better still if you could hear him recite his Swinburnianly modernistic lyrics. A born showman, this Strickland never misses a chance to flabbergast or charm, or otherwise capture the attention of his audience.1Dune Forum, vol. 1, no. 2, 15 Feb 1934, p56.

Frontispiece and title page of “Islanded”

That same week, the Mill Valley Record reported:

Dwight Strickland, the young California poet whose work is earnestly noted by bay region people, is soon to tour the south, where he will appear before distinguished clubs in dramatic presentation of his latest volume of verse “Islanded.” He is to be the guest of and entertainer for the Chelsea Circle in San Francisco tomorrow night. Mr. Strickland expresses himself in highly colorful imagery and distinctive rhythms. In these two qualities, the mantel of Vachel Lindsay seems to have fallen upon him. Lindsay pioneered in a new style which won great acceptance. Strickland is receiving complimentary support from the press. A limited number of autographed copies of his work may be had at Paul Elder’s.2Mill Valley Record, Volume XXXV, Number 51, 9 February 1934

Presumed standard binding of “Islanded,” with silver paper over boards, title and author name stamped in black.

And in April, the Los Angeles Times noted:

From San Francisco comes young Dwight Strickland, whose volume of verse, “Islanded,” has been issued by Paul Elder. Mr. Strickland believes in the importance of reading verse aloud, and he follows Vachel Lindsay in this faith. But, unlike the midwestern poet, he reads from the work of other poets as well as from his own.3Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr 1934

Islanded was issued in at least three bindings: silver paper on boards with title and name stamped in black, cloth on boards without stamped title, and, most unusually, copper foil over boards with gold-stamped title and author—the only such binding that Paul Elder & Company ever issued. The poetry inside is often printed with the avant-garde typography pioneered by E. E. Cummings in the 1920s, and one imagines that our born showman’s reading style attempted to convey that typography to his listeners.

Alternate cover of “Islanded,” with orange and black cloth over boards, but with no words stamped on the cover.

Due to financial difficulties, Paul Elder retired from publishing in 1918. At rare intervals afterwards, he issued an occasional title: three in the 1920s, and six in the 1930s.  Presumably they were all vanity publications, but few records survive so it is difficult to be certain. When Islanded was published in 1933, it was the middle of the Great Depression, and Paul Elder still had money problems behind the scenes, so it’s hard to imagine Elder fronting the costs for this book, especially with the multiple cover designs.

Dwight Jensen Strickland was born in Niles, Michigan on 18 June 1907, the third of four children of the Rev. Arthur Strickland and Carolyn Jensen. Little is known about him aside from what can be pieced together by public documents. The family moved often, and as a boy Dwight also lived in Indiana, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. After his poetry reading tour in 1934, he moved to New York City, but in 1940 was living with his father in Philadelphia. In 1946, he married Louise I. Wetherby (1909-64) in California. Dwight Strickland died on 22 August 1963 in Los Angeles at the age of 56, and is buried alongside Louise at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Pages 8-9 “Islanded,” with the final stanzas of the title poem “Islanded” at left, and distinctive typography.
Signed limitation page, and table of contents
  • 1
    Dune Forum, vol. 1, no. 2, 15 Feb 1934, p56.
  • 2
    Mill Valley Record, Volume XXXV, Number 51, 9 February 1934
  • 3
    Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr 1934

Matins and Vespers

Cover of “Matins and Vespers,” demonstrating John Henry Nash’s expertise with mitred rules.

Matins and Vespers is one of the rarest Elder titles, both because of its ephemeral nature and the notoriety of its author. Violet M. Firth (1890-1946) was a prominent British author, psychologist, teacher, artist, occultist, and mystic. However, she is known primarily by her pseudonym Dion Fortune, inspired by her family motto Deo non fortuna (Latin for “by God, not fate”), originally the ancient motto of the Barons and Earls Digby. She was a prolific writer of the supernatural and the occult in both novels and non-fiction works. According to Wikipedia, Fortune “is recognised as one of the most significant occultists and ceremonial magicians of the early 20th century. The Fraternity she founded survived her and in later decades spawned a variety of related groups based upon her teachings. Her novels in particular proved an influence on later occult and modern Pagan groups such as Wicca.”

Violet Mary Firth, circa 1915?
Violet Mary Firth as a teenager, c. 1905

The text consists of four poems: Morning Hymn, Morning Prayer, Evening Hymn, and Evening Prayer. The cover recto includes a quote from Robert Louis Stevenson, and the verso a quote from Sir Edwin Arnold. Firth’s name only appears in the colophon.

Matins and Vespers, written and published while Fortune was still known as Violet Firth, is a small pamphlet, composed of four sheets folded once and tied with string, making a quire of eight folios. The compositing is by John Henry Nash, and I can think of no greater example of his widely admired skill with the precise perpendicular lines known as mitred rules: in three colors, no less. The actual printing would have been farmed out to a local press shop, despite the colophon reading “printed for them by their Tomoyé Press, at their Shop in the City of San Francisco, which lieth at the Gateway to the Golden West.” Whereas similar unbound Elder titles were almost always issued with matching envelopes (e.g. Charity), Matins and Vespers appears to have been issued with a matching cover  consisting of a simple, loose, folded sheet printed on the front.

Matins and Vespers,” page 1

Violet Mary Firth was born in 1890 to wealthy English family in Llandudno, Wales, where her father ran a hydrotherapy (then called hydropathy) clinic. As a teenager, she lived in the southwest of England, and later studied at the University of London. During World War I, she was a part of the Women’s Land Army, an organization designed to employ women in agriculture in order to replace the men who were fighting in France. For details on Dion Fortune’s extensive career in the occult, I refer the reader to her Wikipedia page. Fortune died of leukemia in 1946 in Middlesex, London, at the age of 55, and is buried at St. John’s Church, Glastonbury.

Matins and Vespers,” page 4
Matins and Vespers,” page 7
Matins and Vespers,” page 10
Colophon of “Matins and Vespers”
Matching cover