A remarkable and deeply personal association copy of Robert Frost’s Collected Poems (1939), inscribed, signed and dated by Frost to the artist Enit Zerner Kaufman (1897–1961), whose portrait of the poet would later grace the frontispiece of his 1942 Pulitzer Prize–winning A Witness Tree. Copies with inscriptions of this depth — and with such a direct connection to Frost’s visual iconography — are exceptionally scarce.
 
The Inscription - On the front blank preliminary leaf, Frost writes a warm and reflective inscription to Kaufman, acknowledging the fidelity and insight of her portraiture. Above the inscription appears the number 111 (or possibly the Roman numeral III) in Frost’s hand. The inscription reads in full: “Robert Frost to Enit Kaufman for putting into a portrait for me so much of the quality of the same person I have tried to draw in my Preface to this book. Cambridge October 1941.” A moving tribute linking poet and portraitist and directly referencing the preface “The Figure a Poem Makes,” printed here for the first time.
 
About This Edition - Issued February 16, 1939, in a modest first printing of just 3,750 copies, this edition gathers the poems from North of Boston, New Hampshire, and A Further Range, along with selections from A Boy’s Will, Mountain Interval, and West-Running Brook. A tipped‑in Doris Ulmann photographic portrait of Frost faces the title page, printed on heavy woven stock.
 
Physical Description - 8vo. 436 pages. A Near Fine copy in beige linen cloth with J.J. Lankes’ gilt‑stamped woodcut on the front board. Light wear to corners and spine tips; mild soiling and a few finger smudges to the cloth. Several tape remnants visible on the front endpapers. A clean, tight, handsome example with strong shelf presence. (Lacking the scarce Jacket)
 
Accompanying Material
 
1. Original Enit Kaufman Portrait Sheet (12.5" × 9.5") — No. 2 of a Very Small Number from Frost's personal collection. A folded sheets of Kaufman’s portrait of Frost, identical to the image later used as the frontispiece of A Witness Tree. On the interior, in Lesley Frost’s hand, appears the note: “One of the Enit Kaufman portraits of Robert Frost.”
Some tape stains, soiling, and wear, consistent with age and handling. A rare survival.
 
2. 1939 Associated Press Type 1 Photograph of Frost (9" × 7")
 
An original AP photograph of Frost at his new Boston home, taken the same year this volume was published. Frost had recently been appointed the Ralph Waldo Emerson Fellow in Poetry at Harvard, where he would teach through 1943. Dated October 15, 1939, for release October 29. Very good condition with expected creasing, a scrape along the left arm, and several small, closed tears.
 
A Superb Frost Association Copy
 
The convergence of elements — Frost’s intimate inscription to Kaufman, the inclusion of an original Kaufman portrait sheet, and the period AP photograph — elevates this copy far beyond the typical signed Frost. It is a small archive of poet, portraitist, and moment, capturing Frost at the height of his public and artistic stature.