Pylon
New York: Harrison Smith & Robert Haas, 1935. First Edition. Hardcover. First Printing (February, 1935, on copyright page), in First Issue dust jacket (with correct titles listed on rear panel), filmed in 1957 as The Tarnished Angels. 8vo: 315,[1]pp, with title-page vignette. Publisher's cobalt-blue V-cloth, spine and upper cover stamped in gold within horizontal black band, top edge stained black; pictorial dust jacket, priced $2.50. Near Fine or better (flaking to spine lettering), in bright, Near Fine or better jacket (spine head rubbed and nicked, slight loss to front flap fold). Provenance: from the collection (now housed at the University of Central Florida Libraries) of bibliophiles Walter and Dorothy Donnelly, with their label on front paste down. Petersen A17.1a. Man Working 174. Fargnoli, pp. 211-16. Agnew, p. 10. Hanna 1163. Fine- / Fine-. Item #BB0094
In the early 1930s, made temporarily affluent by publication of Sanctuary and by Hollywood, Faulkner took up flying, bought a Waco cabin aircraft, and flew it, in February 1934, to the dedication of Shushan Airport in New Orleans. The trip supplied "much of the material for Pylon, the novel about racing and barnstorming pilots that he published in 1935. Having given the Waco to his youngest brother, Dean, and encouraged him to become a professional pilot, Faulkner was both grief- and guilt-stricken when Dean crashed and died in the plane later in 1935 . . . " (Encyclopedia Britannica) According to The Literary Encyclopedia, Pylon "has many failings, but did offer Faulkner a chance to try out some of the techniques he perfected in Absalom, Absalom!, which is widely considered his greatest achievement." In fact, Faulkner claims to have written Pylon to get away from writing Absalom (Fargnoli, p. 213). The Tarnished Angels, about an airplane contest in New Orleans during Mardis Gras, starred Robert Stack, Rock Hudson, and Dorothy Malone, and while Pylon may be a minor novel, of all the films made out of Faulkner's books, Tarnished Angels is the best. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, with dust jackets carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).
Price: $649.00