The Town.

Faulkner, William

About this Item

New York; Random House, 1957. First edition, stated first printing. 21x14 cm. (6, 2 blanks), 371, (1 blank) pp. Publisher's red cloth with grey top edge, pictorial dustjacket. The jacket very slightly chipped at spine ends and a bit creased at corners, not price-clipped. Foot of spine slightly bumped. Contents very fine. Massey 347. Petersen A34a. With the duplication of line 8 on pp. 327 but without ?5/57? on the jacket flap. The second book of the 'Snopes Trilogy', starting with 'The Hamlet' (1940) and ending with 'The Mansion' (1959). From the library of Else Jonsson. That William Faulkner would be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950 had been predicted by the Swedish author, journalist and connoisseur of American literature Thorsten Jonsson (1910-1950), who admired Faulkner?s works and who acted as his main introducer in Sweden. Jonsson was Dagens Nyheter's USA correspondent from 1943-46 and made his statement while interviewing Faulkner at Rowan Oak in 1946. Unfortunately, Jonsson didn?t live to see his prediction come true. At the dinner party given the night before the Nobel Banquet by Faulkner?s Swedish publisher, a toast was proposed for Jonsson, as ?the man most responsible for our gathering tonight? Among the dinner guests was Else Jonsson, his widow, who had been invited both as a guest of honour and as a fluent speaker of English with a broad knowledge of American customs. She and Faulkner immediately found each other, and they met several times during his stay in Stockholm. Their encounter developed into a life-long passion and friendship, clearly seen in the many letters Faulkner wrote to her, and they managed to spend some time together in Paris, Holmenkollen (Norway) and Stockholm during the years to come. In his first love letter to her, dated the fifteenth of December 1950, he asks himself how he will be able to return to the USA without seeing her again. He also says that being a Noble Prize bloke is nothing compared to spending an afternoon with her. Faulkner?s last letter is dated the 14th of December 1960.

Seller Inventory # 19420

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Town.
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • English Literature