Mayfield, John S. Sidney Lanier in Texas. Dallas, TX: The Boyd Press, 1932. 1st . [512]
Stiff black wrapper, title applied to front and spine, 9 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches. Fine condition, unopened. One of 119 copies printed. Tipped in photo of Lanier as frontispiece. With an Introductory Note by the late George Edward Woodberry.
With an Introductory Note by the late George Edward Woodberry.
Lanier's sojourn in Texas (1872-1873), which he undertook to seek a better climate and cure for his tuberculosis, is the focus of this study by Mayfield.
Sidney Clopton Lanier (1842-1881), b. Macon, GA; d. Lynn, NC. Lanier was an "American musician and poet whose verse often suggests the rhythms and thematic development of music. Lanier was reared by devoutly religious parents in the traditions of the Old South." - Encyclopedia Britannica. He served in the Confederate Signal Corps, was captured and imprisoned at Point Lookout, Maryland wherein he contracted tuberculosis, the disease which shortened his life. His poetry is noted for its use of dialect, reflecting the "cracker" and "negro" dialects of his day. He was a member of the faculty of Johns Hopkins University appointed in 1879, specializing in the works of the English novelists and poets.
The following is found at the Georgetown University website: "John S. Mayfield (1904-1983), born in Meridian, Texas, John Mayfield was the son of former U.S. Senator Earle B. Mayfield and Ora Lumpkin. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas in 1930, a Master of Arts from Southern Methodist University in 1932, and studied for a doctorate at Columbia University from 1932 to 1935.
"Mayfield’s early career was with the U.S. military and government. From 1935 to 1942, he worked in the General Accounting Office, Washington, D.C., as an auditor and eventually became chief of recruitment, training and placement. During the Second World War he was a lieutenant commander in the Pacific with the U.S. Navy (1942-1946). Afterwards, he spent three years at the War Assets Administration, Washington, D.C. (1946-1949), in various capacities including Congressional liaison, deputy administrator for the Office of Administrative Services, and assistant deputy administrator for the Office of Management. From 1949 to 1950, Mayfield was the director of personnel at the Department of Defense.
"During the 1950s, Mayfield worked in the private sector, most notably becoming vice-president of the American Rail and Steel Company, Washington, D.C., in 1951. His primary responsibility was the management of relations and projects with federal agencies, as well as the company’s operations in Asia and Latin America.
"By the 1950s, Mayfield had already garnered a reputation as a bibliophile and collector, not only of rare books, but of manuscripts by American and English poets and writers such as Lord Byron, Robinson Jeffers, Sidney Lanier, Amy Lowell, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Booth Tarkington, and Mark Twain, among others. It followed that he became the curator of the division of manuscripts and rare books at the Syracuse University Library (1961-1971). After retirement in 1971, Mayfield served as vice-chairman of trustees, chairman of the program committee, and member of the executive committee of the Georgetown University Library."