AGEE, James (1909-1955)

A Death in the Family [First Issue]

New York: McDowell, Obolensky, 1957. First Edition. Hardcover. First Printing of Agee's Pulitzer prize-winning meditation on his southern childhood, a "poignant, immediate, poetical account of the effect of a Catholic's death on his widow, his small children, and his relatives, laid in Knoxville and the adjacent hill country." (Coan) First Issue, with title page printed in blue and "walking" for "waking" on p.80. Tall, thick 8vo: [10],339,[3]pp. Publisher's French blue cloth, spine and upper cover stamped in silver and green foil, tan end papers; illustrated dust jacket, priced $3.95. Usual fading to spine and board edges, else Fine, square and tight (apparently unread); Fine jacket, vivid and bright. A superlative example. Ahearn, p. 64. Coan, p. 166. Fine / Fine. Item #BB1858

Published posthumously, based on the manuscript Agee left behind (portions had appeared in The Partisan Review, The Cambridge Review, The New Yorker, and Harper's Bazaar). Edited by David McDowell, who added the brief prologue, Knoxville: Summer, 1915. "As an overture to the novel, this evocative section, although not part of Agee's original manuscript, is extremely effective, for it introduces the theme of lost childhood happiness that is central . . . ." (Literary Encyclopedia) N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, with dust jackets carefully preserved in archival, removable polypropylene 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: $635.00