Attractively bound in green and gray lined paper-covered boards with a gray cloth spine stamped brightly in red and black. Clean and tight throughout with gray topstaining. In a very good minus, complete dustjacket with the original price of $1.95 at the top of the inside front flap and the date of "8/56" at the bottom of the flap. Light rubbing and a touch of chipping to the top and bottom of the spine ends at at the corners. The spine is darkened and there is some light soiling to the front panel. "A delightful and heart-warming novelette about small-town American.The story develops from a family party, a testimonial dinner, in honor of Dr. Sam Merritt's first forty years of service to his community, Lyons, PA. This short novel is Mr. O'Hara's first book since he won the 1955 National Book Award for fiction. This copy has been inscribed in black ink and presented: "To Pat Outerbridge who never thought he would end up breaking coal (p. 9) Affectionately John O'Hara 7 August 1956". On p. 9 O'Hara has underlined the name of the mine: "Short Mountain and Outerbridge Colliery" where it appears. Joseph W. ('Pat') Outerbridge of Princeton, NJ was a very close friend and drinking companion of O'Hara who gave him many signed copies of his books over the years. The books are from the collection of Pat Outerbridge's surviving son David. Quoting from Pamela Mac Arthur's book "The Genteel John O'Hara" about O'Hara's relationship with Joseph 'Pat' Outerbridge: "O'Hara's companionship with Sister (his sister-in-law Winnie Gardiner who later became his wife) ended his long nights with his best friend, Pat Outerbridge. Those nights began at eleven o clock in the evening and terminated at three o clock in the morning. Now, he could resume his late night cycle of writing." (p. 175) First Edition with "First Printing" on the copyright page. Seller Inventory # 126

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Bibliographic Details

Title: A Family Party (Signed Presentation Copy to ...

Publisher: Random House, New York

Publication Date: 1956

Binding: Hardcover

Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition

Store Description

We maintain a stock of 10,000 modern first editions ranging from Melville to Updike. We specialize in first editions by Mark Twain, Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck, P.G. Wodehouse, and John Updike as well as important works of modern detective fiction by Robert B. Parker and Sue Grafton. We are open by appointment only and do most of our business via the internet and by mail.

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Brainerd Phillipson Rare Books
MA, U.S.A.

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