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John Rodker

January 01, 1970

John Rodker (18 December 1894 – 6 October 1955) was an English writer, modernist poet, and publisher of modernist writers.

John Rodker, picture taken shortly before his death

Biography edit

 
Janet Flanner-Solita Solano Collection/LOC ppmsca.13300. Jane Heap, John Rodker, Martha Dennison, Tristan Tzara, Margaret C. Anderson, ca. 1920s

John Rodker was born on 18 December 1894 in Manchester, into a Jewish immigrant family. The family moved to London while he was still young.

As a young man, he was one of the so-called "Whitechapel Boys", a group including Isaac Rosenberg, Mark Gertler, David Bomberg, Samuel Weinstein and Joseph Lefkowitz (who coined the name in hindsight). From about 1911, when Rosenberg arrived, they began to aspire to literary careers; and in the years before 1914 Rodker was a published essayist and poet, in The New Age of A. R. Orage and elsewhere. Other "Whitechapel Boys" were the painters David Bomberg and Mark Gertler; they all met together at or near the Whitechapel Art Gallery.

During World War I, Rodker was a conscientious objector.[1] He went on the run, sheltering with the poet R. C. Trevelyan, before being arrested in April 1917, imprisoned, and then transferred to the Home Office Work Centre, Princetown, in the former Dartmoor Prison. He describes this in his book Memoirs of Other Fronts.

In 1919 Rodker started the Ovid Press, a small press which lasted about a year. It published T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound (the first edition of Hugh Selwyn Mauberley) and portfolios of drawings by Wyndham Lewis, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and Edward Wadsworth. In the opinion of one modern scholar, "the Ovid Press remains his most significant contribution for the originality of the titles he chose and for the place the imprint maintains alongside other private presses of the period."[2]

That same year, Rodker took over from Pound as foreign editor of the New York magazine, The Little Review.

In the 1920s he spent time in Paris on the second edition of James Joyce's Ulysses, at that time subject to censorship, and on French translations of Joyce. He then set up the Casanova Society, for limited editions. He continued in publishing, on occult subjects under the imprint "J. Rodker" also, until a bankruptcy in 1932, when (along with other such ventures such as the Fanfrolico Press) his business folded in the Depression. He was included in the 1930 Faber and Faber collection Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress of Joyceans.

For a period he dropped publishing, concentrating on translation from French literature, and agency work for Preslit, the Soviet overseas literature organ. At this time too he apparently abandoned literary ambitions for himself. In 1937, the centennial of the death of Aleksandr Pushkin, he set up the Pushkin Press, another small press, publishing Oliver Elton's English version of Eugene Onegin and a trickle of other books.

The Imago Publishing Company was a separate, more substantial venture, set up after Sigmund Freud arrived in London in 1938. The stocks of Freud's works left when he fled Vienna and the Nazis had been destroyed; Rodker with Anna Freud worked to publish a complete edition. This was done over a dozen years, being finished in 1952. Imago was wound up in 1961.

Rodker was fluent in French, writing regularly for a French literary magazine, and was posthumously awarded the Légion d'Honneur by the government of France.[3]

Personal life edit

John Rodker's father, David, joined the mass exodus of Jews from what is now Poland to escape the pogroms of the 1880s, moving to England, where, like a number of his family members, he worked as a corset-maker. As far as we know, all the Rodkers in the world are related – the name seems to have been invented for (or by) just this one family. This surname appears to be a toponymic surname based on the town of Rodka, now in Romania and renamed to Rădăuți.[3] David married Leah Jacobson; their children were John and Peter.

John's younger brother Peter, who used the surname Roker (without the "d"), served for five years during World War I and married Helen Scott. He was institutionalized for mental illness from 1934 until his death in 1973.

John Rodker married three times. He and his first wife, the writer Mary Butts (1890–1937), married in May 1918. He already had a daughter, Joan (1915–2010),[4][5] from an earlier relationship with the dancer, Sonia Cohen (1885–1979). His daughter by Mary Butts was Camilla (1920–2007), who married Henry Israel.

The second marriage was to Barbara McKenzie-Smith (1902–1996), a painter, resulting in a son, John Paul (born in 1937),[3] whose surname was changed to Morrison when his mother, after their divorce, married E.A. Morrison III. Moura Budberg was John Paul's godmother.

The third marriage was to Marianne Rais (died 1984), a Paris bookseller and daughter of his translator Ludmila Savitzky.

Joan Rodker's son, Ernest Rodker (born 1937), by the actor Gerard Heinz, was a post-World War II conscientious objector, a founder member of the Committee of 100 and serves as the British spokesperson for Mordechai Vanunu[6] and became a founding member of the Battersea Power Station Community Group.[7]

Works edit

Published by Rodker's Ovid Press edit

  • John Rodker, Poems (1914)
  • Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Twenty Drawings from the Note-Books of H. Gaudier-Brzeska (1919)
  • Ezra Pound, The Fourth Canto (1919)
  • Wyndham Lewis, Fifteen Drawings (1920)
  • T.S. Eliot, Ara Vus Prec (1920)
  • Roger Fry, Catalogue: Paintings Drawings and Etchings by Auguste Renoir (1920)
  • Clive Bell, Catalogue: Woodcuts and Drawings by Nicola Galante (1920)
  • John Rodker, Hymns (1920)
  • Ezra Pound, Hugh Selwyn Mauberley (1920)
  • Roald Kristian, A Bestiary (1920)
  • Oscar Wilde, To M. B. J. (1920)
  • Edward Wadsworth, The Black Country (1920)
  • Ezra Pound, Bel Esprit (1922)
  • André Germain, Chants dans la Brume (1922)
  • James Joyce, Ulysses (1922)

Written by John Rodker edit

 
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
John Rodker
  • Poems (1914) first collection
  • Hymns (1920) Ovid Press
  • Montagnes Russes (1923) in French translation by Ludmila Savitzky
  • Dartmoor (1926) in French translation by Ludmila Savitzky
  • The Future of Futurism (1926)
  • Adolphe 1920 (1929)
  • Collected Poems, 1912–1925 (Hours Press, 1930)
  • Memoirs of Other Fronts (1932)
  • Poems & Adolphe 1920 (1996) Carcanet Press reissue

Further reading edit

  • Gerald W. Cloud, John Rodker's Ovid Press: a bibliographical history (2010. Oak Knoll Press)

References edit

  1. ^ Wallis, Holly (15 May 2014). "WW1: The conscientious objectors who refused to fight". BBC. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  2. ^ Cloud, Gerald W. (2010). John Rodker's Ovid Press: A Bibliographical History. New Castle, Delaware: Oak Knoll Press. p. 51. ISBN 9781584562863.
  3. ^ a b c "J Paul Morrison :: Biography". jpaulm.github.io.
  4. ^ Obituary: Joan Rodker, The Daily Telegraph, 23 January 2011 (online edition)
  5. ^ Jenny Diski Obituary: Joan Rodker, The Independent, 13 January 2011
  6. ^ UK Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu 27 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Battersea Power Station Community Group

External links edit

  • Photo of John Rodker, James Joyce, Sylvia Beach, Cyprian Beach at Shakespeare and Co., Paris
  • Anglo-Jewish poetry from Isaac Rosenberg to Elaine Feinstein by Peter Lawson: ISBN 0-85303-617-9
  • John Rodker Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at U. of Texas, Austin
  • Dominic Williams. No History to Speak Of: Jewishness and Modernism in John Rodker's Memoirs of Other Fronts (1932). Journal of Modern Jewish Studies 9.3(2010): 289–310
  • , built using Geneweb software
  • The Journal of the Utah Jewish Genealogical Society, "Atsmi uVsari", Issue #24, Dec., 2010
  • Review and bibliography of “John Rodker’s Ovid Press: A Bibliographical History” by Gerald W. Cloud
  • Imago Publishing Co. at Database – Jewish Publishers of German Literature in Exile, 1933-1945

January 01, 1970
john, rodker, december, 1894, october, 1955, english, writer, modernist, poet, publisher, modernist, writers, picture, taken, shortly, before, death, contents, biography, personal, life, works, published, rodker, ovid, press, written, further, reading, referen. John Rodker 18 December 1894 6 October 1955 was an English writer modernist poet and publisher of modernist writers John Rodker picture taken shortly before his death Contents 1 Biography 2 Personal life 3 Works 3 1 Published by Rodker s Ovid Press 3 2 Written by John Rodker 4 Further reading 5 References 6 External linksBiography edit nbsp Janet Flanner Solita Solano Collection LOC ppmsca 13300 Jane Heap John Rodker Martha Dennison Tristan Tzara Margaret C Anderson ca 1920s John Rodker was born on 18 December 1894 in Manchester into a Jewish immigrant family The family moved to London while he was still young As a young man he was one of the so called Whitechapel Boys a group including Isaac Rosenberg Mark Gertler David Bomberg Samuel Weinstein and Joseph Lefkowitz who coined the name in hindsight From about 1911 when Rosenberg arrived they began to aspire to literary careers and in the years before 1914 Rodker was a published essayist and poet in The New Age of A R Orage and elsewhere Other Whitechapel Boys were the painters David Bomberg and Mark Gertler they all met together at or near the Whitechapel Art Gallery During World War I Rodker was a conscientious objector 1 He went on the run sheltering with the poet R C Trevelyan before being arrested in April 1917 imprisoned and then transferred to the Home Office Work Centre Princetown in the former Dartmoor Prison He describes this in his book Memoirs of Other Fronts In 1919 Rodker started the Ovid Press a small press which lasted about a year It published T S Eliot and Ezra Pound the first edition of Hugh Selwyn Mauberley and portfolios of drawings by Wyndham Lewis Henri Gaudier Brzeska and Edward Wadsworth In the opinion of one modern scholar the Ovid Press remains his most significant contribution for the originality of the titles he chose and for the place the imprint maintains alongside other private presses of the period 2 That same year Rodker took over from Pound as foreign editor of the New York magazine The Little Review In the 1920s he spent time in Paris on the second edition of James Joyce s Ulysses at that time subject to censorship and on French translations of Joyce He then set up the Casanova Society for limited editions He continued in publishing on occult subjects under the imprint J Rodker also until a bankruptcy in 1932 when along with other such ventures such as the Fanfrolico Press his business folded in the Depression He was included in the 1930 Faber and Faber collection Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress of Joyceans For a period he dropped publishing concentrating on translation from French literature and agency work for Preslit the Soviet overseas literature organ At this time too he apparently abandoned literary ambitions for himself In 1937 the centennial of the death of Aleksandr Pushkin he set up the Pushkin Press another small press publishing Oliver Elton s English version of Eugene Onegin and a trickle of other books The Imago Publishing Company was a separate more substantial venture set up after Sigmund Freud arrived in London in 1938 The stocks of Freud s works left when he fled Vienna and the Nazis had been destroyed Rodker with Anna Freud worked to publish a complete edition This was done over a dozen years being finished in 1952 Imago was wound up in 1961 Rodker was fluent in French writing regularly for a French literary magazine and was posthumously awarded the Legion d Honneur by the government of France 3 Personal life editJohn Rodker s father David joined the mass exodus of Jews from what is now Poland to escape the pogroms of the 1880s moving to England where like a number of his family members he worked as a corset maker As far as we know all the Rodkers in the world are related the name seems to have been invented for or by just this one family This surname appears to be a toponymic surname based on the town of Rodka now in Romania and renamed to Rădăuți 3 David married Leah Jacobson their children were John and Peter John s younger brother Peter who used the surname Roker without the d served for five years during World War I and married Helen Scott He was institutionalized for mental illness from 1934 until his death in 1973 John Rodker married three times He and his first wife the writer Mary Butts 1890 1937 married in May 1918 He already had a daughter Joan 1915 2010 4 5 from an earlier relationship with the dancer Sonia Cohen 1885 1979 His daughter by Mary Butts was Camilla 1920 2007 who married Henry Israel The second marriage was to Barbara McKenzie Smith 1902 1996 a painter resulting in a son John Paul born in 1937 3 whose surname was changed to Morrison when his mother after their divorce married E A Morrison III Moura Budberg was John Paul s godmother The third marriage was to Marianne Rais died 1984 a Paris bookseller and daughter of his translator Ludmila Savitzky Joan Rodker s son Ernest Rodker born 1937 by the actor Gerard Heinz was a post World War II conscientious objector a founder member of the Committee of 100 and serves as the British spokesperson for Mordechai Vanunu 6 and became a founding member of the Battersea Power Station Community Group 7 Works editPublished by Rodker s Ovid Press edit John Rodker Poems 1914 Henri Gaudier Brzeska Twenty Drawings from the Note Books of H Gaudier Brzeska 1919 Ezra Pound The Fourth Canto 1919 Wyndham Lewis Fifteen Drawings 1920 T S Eliot Ara Vus Prec 1920 Roger Fry Catalogue Paintings Drawings and Etchings by Auguste Renoir 1920 Clive Bell Catalogue Woodcuts and Drawings by Nicola Galante 1920 John Rodker Hymns 1920 Ezra Pound Hugh Selwyn Mauberley 1920 Roald Kristian A Bestiary 1920 Oscar Wilde To M B J 1920 Edward Wadsworth The Black Country 1920 Ezra Pound Bel Esprit 1922 Andre Germain Chants dans la Brume 1922 James Joyce Ulysses 1922 Written by John Rodker edit nbsp Wikisource has original text related to this article John Rodker Poems 1914 first collection Hymns 1920 Ovid Press Montagnes Russes 1923 in French translation by Ludmila Savitzky Dartmoor 1926 in French translation by Ludmila Savitzky The Future of Futurism 1926 Adolphe 1920 1929 Collected Poems 1912 1925 Hours Press 1930 Memoirs of Other Fronts 1932 Poems amp Adolphe 1920 1996 Carcanet Press reissueFurther reading editGerald W Cloud John Rodker s Ovid Press a bibliographical history 2010 Oak Knoll Press References edit Wallis Holly 15 May 2014 WW1 The conscientious objectors who refused to fight BBC Retrieved 26 March 2018 Cloud Gerald W 2010 John Rodker s Ovid Press A Bibliographical History New Castle Delaware Oak Knoll Press p 51 ISBN 9781584562863 a b c J Paul Morrison Biography jpaulm github io Obituary Joan Rodker The Daily Telegraph 23 January 2011 online edition Jenny Diski Obituary Joan Rodker The Independent 13 January 2011 UK Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu Archived 27 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine Battersea Power Station Community GroupExternal links editArticle on the Whitechapel Boys Photo of John Rodker James Joyce Sylvia Beach Cyprian Beach at Shakespeare and Co Paris Anglo Jewish poetry from Isaac Rosenberg to Elaine Feinstein by Peter Lawson ISBN 0 85303 617 9 John Rodker Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at U of Texas Austin Dominic Williams No History to Speak Of Jewishness and Modernism in John Rodker s Memoirs of Other Fronts 1932 Journal of Modern Jewish Studies 9 3 2010 289 310 Entry in Rodker s genealogy web site built using Geneweb software The Journal of the Utah Jewish Genealogical Society Atsmi uVsari Issue 24 Dec 2010 Review and bibliography of John Rodker s Ovid Press A Bibliographical History by Gerald W Cloud Imago Publishing Co at Database Jewish Publishers of German Literature in Exile 1933 1945 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title John Rodker amp oldid 1162734015, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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