David Brass Rare Books, Inc.: American Literature
found: 12 books

 CRANE, Hart; LIMITED EDITIONS CLUB; BENSON, Richard, photographer; COWLEY, Malcolm, introduction, Bridge, the
CRANE, Hart; LIMITED EDITIONS CLUB; BENSON, Richard, photographer; COWLEY, Malcolm, introduction
Bridge, the
New York: Printed for the Members of The Limited Editions Club, 1981. A Monument of American Poetry" CRANE, Hart. The Bridge. A Poem- With an Introduction by Malcolm Cowley and Photographs by Richard Benson. New York: Printed for the Members of The Limited Editions Club, 1981. Limited to 2,000 copies signed by Richard Benson, this being no. 521. Large quarto (11 15/16 x 9 inches; 304 x 228 mm.). 96 pp. Illustrated with five photographic plates (including one double-page) by Richard Benson. Publisher's silver-gray Dutch natural-finish cloth, front cover with title stamped in blind, spine lettered in blue, decorative end-papers. A fine copy in the publisher's matching slip-case. Harold Hart Crane (1899-1932) was an American poet. Finding both inspiration and provocation in the poetry of T. S. Eliot, Crane wrote modernist poetry that was difficult, highly stylized, and ambitious in its scope. In his most ambitious work, The Bridge, Crane sought to write an epic poem, in the vein of The Waste Land, that expressed a more optimistic view of modern, urban culture than the one that he found in Eliot's work. In the years following his suicide at the age of thirty-two, Crane has been hailed by playwrights, poets, and literary critics alike (including Robert Lowell, Derek Walcott, Tennessee Williams, and Harold Bloom), as being one of the most influential poets of his generation. Richard Benson (born 1943) is a photographer, printer and educator who utilizes photographic processing techniques of the past and present. Benson has a broad range of interests in the photographic print-silver, platinum, palladium, and ink. Working in these different mediums, sometimes learning forgotten crafts and sometimes creating new ones, he has become convinced that ink and the modern photo offset press possess a potential for photographic rendition beyond anything else previously known. In recent years he has been working on the relationship between the computer and traditional photographic imagery, and has been applying the lessons from this in the production of long run offset books of work by different photographers, in both black and white and color. Limited Editions Club Bibliography, 520. .
David Brass Rare Books (ABAA/ILAB)Professional seller
Book number: 03680
USD 200.00 [Appr.: EURO 194.25 | £UK 162 | JP¥ 30390]
Keywords: LIMITED EDITIONS CLUB BENSON, Richard, photographer COWLEY, Malcolm, introduction Illustrated Books Poetry Signed Limited Edition Limited Editions

 HEMINGWAY, Ernest, Across the River and Into the Trees
HEMINGWAY, Ernest
Across the River and Into the Trees
London: Jonathan Cape, 1950. Reflections on a Life HEMINGWAY, Ernest. Across the River and Into the Trees. London: Jonathan Cape, [1950]. First English edition, First Printing. Octavo (7 1/2 x 4 7/8 inches; 191 x 124 mm.). [1]-254 pp. Publisher's green cloth, front cover with decoration in red, spine lettered in red and silver. First issue pictorial dust jacket with "9s 6d. net" printed on lower front flap. Minimal rubbing to extremities of dust jacket. An excellent example. The UK edition preceded the the US edition by four days. "Across the River and Into the Trees first appeared in Cosmopolitan, CXXVIII (Feb. 1950 - June 1950). Numerous changes, additions, and omissions were made prior to book publication. For example: "Conte Carlo" was changed to "Count Andrea"; the passages regarding "the Honorable Pacciardi," on pp. 39-41, were added; the passages regarding d'Annunzio, on pp. 49-51, were added; the whole of Ch. XXXVII was added; the deletions were filled in; etc- Across the River and Into the Trees appeared on the N.Y. Times Book Review's Best Seller List from September 24, 1950 to February 11, 1951. During the twenty-one weeks that it appeared, it was in first place for seven weeks, from October 15 to November 26, 1950. Twenty-five "advance copies," issued in blue cloth, were printed from discarded plates after the first edition was run off- These "advance copies" contain the following errors: On p.21, line 26, "Papadopohi" should read "Papadopoli". On p. 24, line 5, there should be a period after "got" and "o" made a capital in "One". On p. 80, line 21, the second "how" should be omitted." (Hanneman, pp. 61-62). Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961). Across the River and Into the Trees was his last novel and tells the story of American Colonel Richard Cantwell during the last day of his life as he recalls his experiences in war and love as a younger man in Venice. Hemingway took the title of this novel from the last words of General Thomas J. ("Stonewall") Jackson, quoted on page 307: "Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees." Like much of his writing, this novel is highly autobiographical. Also in typical Hemingway fashion, Across the River utilizes the Iceberg Theory, in which the true essence of the story is not expressly said in the plot but rather is meant to be inferred. Hanneman 23A. .
David Brass Rare Books (ABAA/ILAB)Professional seller
Book number: 05722
USD 800.00 [Appr.: EURO 776.5 | £UK 647.5 | JP¥ 121559]
Keywords: Modern Firsts

 O'NEILL, Eugene, Days without End
O'NEILL, Eugene
Days without End
New York: Random House, 1934. O’Neill’s “Modern Miracle Play” O’NEILL, Eugene. Days Without End. New York: Random House, [1934]. First edition. Limited to 325 numbered copies printed on all-rag paper and signed by the author (this being copy No. 208). Large octavo (9 5/8 x 6 1/2 inches; 243 x 164 mm.). 157, [3, blank] pp. Publisher’s full blue calf. Spine with raised bands and red and white morocco labels lettered in gilt. Top edge gilt, others uncut. A few rubbed spots to spine, mild scuffing to edges. A very good copy. In the original slipcase (slipcase intact, but distressed). “A modern miracle play by Eugene O'Neill. [Henry Miller Theatre, 57 perf.] John Loving is two men simultaneously: John (Earle Larimore), his generous, idealistic half, and Loving (Stanley Ridges), his baser self. Embittered at life, he has abandoned religion and made a god of love. But he has not been faithful even to his new deity. Loving decides to write a book about his experiences and tells his story to a priest (Robert Loraine) and his wife, Elsa (Selena Royle). The shock of hearing her husband’s history makes Elsa deathly ill. Mortified, John prostrates himself before the cross and re-embraces Catholicism; John's reaffirmation kills Loving and saves his wife. Although highly praised by the Catholic press, most other American critics treated the Theatre Guild production harshly, seeing it largely as a failed literary exercise rather than a vital drama. Curiously, the play was accorded a better reception the following year when it opened in London. The play’s American failure may have played some part in the withdrawal of O'Neill, heretofore prolific, from the stage. He did not return to Broadway until twelve years later with The Iceman Cometh, though he continued to write” (The Oxford Companion to American Theatre). Atkinson A34-I-1.b. .