"N by E" written and illustrated by Rockwell Kent, published by New York Literary Guild, New York, 1930. First Edition.

Hard boards, original beige cloth with blue compass rose on front board and, and lettering on spine [spine fade and a little soiling: see photos]; 6" x 8.1/2"; vintage private ex-libris inside front cover, 281 pages including c.100 illustrations and 8 full-page plates with blank versos; very good condition.

Memoir of extended time in Greenland for after sailing in a small craft, with two companions, north by east across the Davis Strait, and getting stranded there after a sudden storm. The book is filled with the artist's pen/brush and ink drawings as well as several wood engravings.

Rockwell Kent (1882-1971) was an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, writer, sailor, adventurer and voyager.

Kent's early paintings of Mount Monadnock and New Hampshire were first shown at the Society of American Artists in New York in 1904, when Dublin Pond was purchased by Smith College. In 1905 Kent ventured to Monhegan Island, Maine, and found its rugged and primordial beauty a source of inspiration for the next five years. His first series of paintings of Monhegan were shown to wide critical acclaim in 1907 at Clausen Galleries in New York. These works form the foundation of his lasting reputation as an early American modernist, and can be seen in museums across the country, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, New Britain Museum of American Art, and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

A transcendentalist and mystic in the tradition of Thoreau and Emerson, whose works he read, Kent found inspiration in the austerity and stark beauty of wilderness. His series of land and seascapes convey the Symbolist spirit evoking the mysteries and cosmic wonders of the natural world. "I don't want petty self-expression", Kent wrote, "I want the elemental, infinite thing; I want to paint the rhythm of eternity."

When an anthology of Kent's work was published in 1982, a reviewer of the book for the New York Times further described Kent as "... a thoughtful, troublesome, profoundly independent, odd and kind man who made an imperishable contribution to the art of bookmaking in the United States."

US: Priority (c.2-6 days) ----------- $12.50
Canada: 1st Class (c.2-7 weeks) ----- $27.50
World: 1st Class (c.2-10 weeks) ----- $35.50