Not Man Apart: Photographs from the Big Sur Coast.

Sierra Club Exhibit Format Series #10

by Robinson Jeffers, Loren Eisley (Foreword), Ansel Adams (Photographer)

, 159 pages, photographs of the Big Sur Coast in both black & white and colour

Genres: Poetry, Photography, Art, Reference, Nature

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Collections of American poet John Robinson Jeffers, who sets many of his works in California, include Tamar and Other Poems (1924).

He knew the central coast and wrote mostly in classic narrative and epic form. Nevertheless, people today know also his short verse and consider him an symbol of the environmental movement.

The Harry Ransom humanities research center at the University of Texas at Austin and the libraries at Occidental College, the University of California, and Yale University collect many manuscripts and materials of Jeffers. Survivors published a collection of his letters posthumously as The Selected Letters of Robinson Jeffers, 1887–1962 (1968). Jeffers wrote other books or criticism and poetry: are: Poetry, Gongorism, and a Thousand Years (1949), Themes in My Poems (1956), Robinson Jeffers: Selected Poems (1965), The Alpine Christ and Other Poems (1974), What Odd Expedients" and Other Poems (1981), and Rock and Hawk: A Selection of Shorter Poems by Robinson Jeffers (1987).

Stanford University Press recently released a five-volume collection of the complete works of Robinson Jeffers. In an article titled, "A Black Sheep Joins the Fold", written upon the release of the collection in 2001, Stanford Magazine ably remarked that due to a number of circumstances, "there was never an authoritative, scholarly edition of California’s premier bard" until Stanford published the complete works.

Biographical studies include George Sterling, Robinson Jeffers: The Man and the Artist (1926); Louis Adamic, Robinson Jeffers (1929); Melba Bennett, Robinson Jeffers and the Sea (1936) and The Stone Mason of Tor House (1966); Edith Greenan, Of Una Jeffers (1939); Mabel Dodge Luhan, Una and Robin (1976; written in 1933); Ward Ritchie, Jeffers: Some Recollections of Robinson Jeffers (1977); and James Karman, Robinson Jeffers: Poet of California (1987). Books about Jeffers's career include L. C. Powell, Robinson Jeffers: The Man and His Work (1940; repr. 1973); William Everson, Robinson Jeffers: Fragments of an Older Fury (1968); Arthur B. Coffin, Robinson Jeffers: Poet of Inhumanism (1971); Bill Hotchkiss, Jeffers: The Sivaistic Vision (1975); James Karman, ed., Critical Essays on Robinson Jeffers (1990); Alex Vardamis The Critical Reputation of Robinson Jeffers (1972); and Robert Zaller, ed., Centennial Essays for Robinson Jeffers (1991). The Robinson Jeffers Newsletter, ed. Robert Brophy, is a valuable scholarly resource.

In a rare recording, Jeffers can be heard reading his "The Day Is A Poem" (September 19, 1939) on Poetry Speaks – Hear Great Poets Read Their Work from Tennyson to Plath, Narrated by Charles Osgood (Sourcebooks, Inc., c2001), Disc 1, #41; including text, with Robert Hass on Robinson Jeffers, pp. 88–95. Jeffers was also on the cover of Time – The Weekly Magazine, April 4, 1932 (pictured on p. 90. Poetry Speaks).

"Jeffers Studies", a journal of research on the poetry of Robinson Jeffers and related topics, is published semi-annually by the Robinson Jeffers Association.

Reviews

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few gems about eagles and human destruction. Gorgeous fascination with death and uncaring nature. Slightly pompous and repetitive in naming stars of note, and a disdain for human progress somewhat undermined with a generous love of human-made names and labels.

Favorites:
The deer lay down their bones
Signpost
The purse-seine
The caged eagle's death dream
Pelicans

[Mark Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Sierra Club book offering. This book was the work of a committee...in the best sense. They knew the work of Jeffers who was a California coast resident and chose poems/writings of his that reflected the Big Sur Coast. The amazing "committee" contained Ansel Adams and Wallace Stegner (not bad committee members,eh) and they knew the exact locations Jeffers had been writing of and so found photos to use that were a perfect match for the words of Jeffers.

Great marriage of photo and word.

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marrying lines from Robinson Jeffers poems with various pictures of the Big Sur through Monterey coastline is hit and miss. It gives you a picture of what he's getting at, but not the picture. The black and whites are especially troubling for me. They're terrific b&w photos, but they don't do Jeffers justice. I read his poetry in full color, reveling in the full complexity of his vision.

[Iain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book, especially in its original Sierra Club "battle book" exhibit format hardcover.

A great selection of Big Sur photos from many 20th century greats, combined with a selection of Robinson Jeffers' more accessible poems. While it's not a great showcase of any of the photographers here, in number or strength of the photos (some of the selections seem a little random and questionable), it's a very nice journey through the Big Sur area.

A note on the various editions of this book: they vary to a surprising degree. I'll give some examples I've come across from memory. An early printing of the exhibit format had good photo reproductions but the contrast was a little weak. I think the cover gave the title of the book. A later printing had better contrast that presented the photos closer to probable intent, so this was the one I kept for myself. It also had the addition of hawk stamps on the end papers and an added caption explaining the photo of Tor House in the introduction. The cover text switched to "The Big Sur Coast." A later large hardcover printing from the 90s has a crisper and more modern/less classic look to the text, removed the Tor House caption, reduced contrast on the photos, and switched the cover from red to blue. A medium sized trade paperback edition from the 70s had less impressive reproductions. A small semi-hardcover from the 60s or 70s had excessive contrast that made the photos too dense and dark. I've also found that this book seems to be strangely difficult to find in really nice condition. Both the old large hardcovers have an unusually pronounced musty old book smell. The paperback was overpoweringly mildewed to the point of being unusable. The newer large hardcover had visible mildew growing on its jacket. Only the small hardcover, a former library book, was in what I'd call typical good condition. I buy a lot of old books, but this particular one has given me unusual difficulty.

[Michael Braithwaite · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Never mind. The trees and the stones are worth it." And a reminder to show the cliffy deer refuge/must wear my bones poem to anyone who lost a loved one and think they can't go on

[Peter Swanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My brother gave it to me for Christmas of 1965, and it's always been a favorite of mine. I've liked Jeffers' poetry ever since I first read him, numerous decades ago. Having it accompanied by the luscious photographs of Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and others, adds greatly to the feel of the words.

[Ben Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic photos of the Big Sur area of California, and salient and powerful poetry by Robison Jeffers

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent for the pictures and the poems.