1942 EDNA ST VINCENT MILLAY READINGS FROM HER POEMS RCA VICTOR 4 78" VINYL DISCS

$

40

Up for auction is a rare boxed set of four (4) heavy vinyl 78 RPM records featuring the verse of Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950), read by the poet herself, with the gilt title on the front reading:

EDNA ST. VINCENT

MILLAY

In Readings From

Her Poems.

The works listed on the 8 individual sides of the four discs are:

• 18275-A The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver
• 18275-B Sonnets from "Fatal Interview" (2. This Beast That Rends Me, 11. Not in a Silver Casket, 30. Love Is Not All, 33. Sorrowful Dreams, 52. Oh, Sleep Forever)
• 18276-A 1. Elegy (from "Second April"), 2. Childhood Is the Kingdom (from "Wines from These Grapes")
• 18276-B 1. Recuerdo, 2. I Shall Forget You Presently, My Dear (from "Figs from Thistles"); 3. Return from Town (from "The Harp-Weaver"); 4. Portrait by a Neighbor (from "Figs from Thistles"); 5. Travel (from "Second April")
• 18277-A 1. To Pao-Chin; 2. The Anguish (from "The Buck in the Snow"); 3.I Must Not Die of Pity, 4. The Maid of Orleans (from "Make Bright the Arrows"), 5. Where Can the Heart Be Hidden (from "Wine from These Grapes")
• 18277-B Renascence (Part 1)
• 18278-A Renascence (Part 2)
• 18278-B Renascence (concluded)

The boxed set has a burgundy cloth spine, a brown textured-paper cover, and there is a four-page brochure laid in at the inside front with information on the records and their contents.

On the inside rear cover is a list of other 19 other Victor sets, all of classical music, with the heading "Hear These Other Great Connoisseur's Items / on Victor Records," and whose composers/performers are (I'm using the spelling printed on the box): Bach, Beethoven, Bloch, Buccherini, Brahms, Bruckner, Copland, Debussy, Elgar, Hindemith, Ibert, Mahler, Mozart, Prokofieff, Rachmaninoff, Schonberg, Sibelius, Szostakowicz, and Williams.

At the bottom are printed these words:

RCA MANUFACTURING CO., INC.

CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY, U. S. A.

PRINTED IN U. S. A.

746-4                                                                                      No. 4

The condition of the paper, cardboard, and other non-vinyl elements of the boxed set appears good to me, though there is extensive corner-bumping, edgewear, rubbing, paper loss, etc., on the brown textured paper covers, especially at the bottom right corner of the front (see detail I've uploaded, which has paper loss, showing gray cardboard underneath). There is discoloration to the paper sleeves, I would imagine, as well as to the brochure tucked inside.

As for the records themselves, I am no expert, but they do appear to me to be in pretty good shape, without any scratches or spots on them, and no breaks, cracks, or the like (though there is some kind of smear or rubbing at the end of 18276-B, though it doesn't really look like a flaw or damage). The burgundy labels with gilt printing -- all eight of them -- are bright and shiny and without any flaws that I can see, except maybe some rubbing of the gold ink.

But as I have not played the records, I can only tell you the entire set is being sold AS IS, AS FOUND, WITH THE RECORDS STILL IN THEIR SLEEVES UNPLAYED BY ME. The records were sourced by me at a sale of antiquarian books and paper in central Connecticut, and I don't know anything about their provenance (and there is no previous owner's name or label anywhere).

This rare set of 78 RPM records featuring Edna St. Vincent Millay reading her own poems is being sold AS IS, as described above and pictured herein. I am setting what I believe is a very reasonable But It Now price for the hard-to-find boxed set, only one copy of which I was able to find available for sale on line -- and priced at well over $300. 

Shipping and handling for the boxed set of 4 records: $5 to U.S. addresses (via Media Mail) and $51 to Canada and $82 to Europe, Japan, Australia, South America, and elsewhere in the world (the latter two via Priority Mail International, which is now the CHEAPEST method possible abroad for a package of this size and weight).

If it happens that I have underestimated the shipping price, I hope you will not be averse to my increasing it the required amount, once I get the item all packed and ready for shipping. Likewise, if I've overestimated the cost for shipping, I will issue you a refund via PayPal (but for no more than $3, which I think is fair but which is negotiable).

Note that due to eBay's strict policy, I ACCEPT PAYPAL ONLY FROM ALL BUYERS, both in the U.S. and abroad. If you want the records sent more quickly to you (e.g., via Priority or Express Mail), you must request this asap after winning or purchasing it (or beforehand, if possible), and I will adjust the amount accordingly.

I will do my best to send the item out to you no more than 2-3 business days following receipt of payment (that is, when PayPal informs me that your payment has been posted to or otherwise cleared in my account). 

If you are the buyer of these records, PAYMENT IS EXPECTED WITHIN TWO WEEKS (14 DAYS) FROM THE END OF AUCTION. If you cannot pay within this time frame, please contact me asap so we can work something out. I'm very flexible and understanding, but I would appreciate communication from you one way or another.

PLEASE NOTE THAT NO RETURNS WILL BE ACCEPTED NOR REFUNDS MADE FOR THE RECORDS, SO BID CAREFULLY!

Thanks for looking, and please don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions about this 1942 RCA Victor boxed set of records featuring the American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay reading her own poetry.