Ring Lardner And The Portrait Of Folly (Only Signed Copy)

Maxwell Geismar

ISBN 10: 0690702345 / ISBN 13: 9780690702347

Published by Thomas Y. Crowell, New York, 1972

About this Item

First Edition (Number Line to 1). Once listed, this will be the Only signed copy of this book for sale anywhere on the Internet. Moreover, it is signed and inscribed to the author's wife (I have a few other of Maxwell Geismar's books listed for sale that he inscribed to his wife). The inscription is on the first front end paper and reads 'To Ann-- For her Birthday-- and what could be nicer? with love from the Author.' At the bottom of the page, he wrote 'Butterfly Farm, May 1, 1977.' Also included in the sale (and in the book when I purchased it some years ago) is a postcard from Dorothy Hillyer de Santillana who was Maxwell Geismar's editor at Houghton Mifflin. I just recently sold a book titled Hamlet's Mill which was written by the former Professor of the History of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Giorgio de Santillana. He was her husband. The postcard which was postmarked 1972 came from Martha's Vineyard where she was vacationing, and related the fact that she had 'saved Ring Lardner for this holiday moment. I have read it twice in as many days. It is wise and funny and tender and true. You have distilled the man's essence, both human and literary.' So clearly you need to buy this most unique book. As you can see, the purple covers are quite clean and are in very good condition. There really isn't any conspicuous wear. The corners and edges and spine ends are solid. The white lettering on the spine is quite bright. The spine is very slightly slanted forward. The book is very solidly bound from cover to cover, no cracks or spaces to be found anywhere. The pages are, on the whole very clean. There is one thin spot on the middle page edge and it just peeks over the edge of a small group of pages, far from the print and not very conspicuous. I didn't see any other instances of soiling on any of the other pages. Nor is there any creasing on any of the pages. There are no markings. No attachments. And with the exception of the author's signed inscription, no one has written their name or anything else anywhere in the book. You can see the dust jacket in the first few photos. I've had it in a fitted protective cover for as long as I've owned the book. There are a few speck-sized scuffs on the front cover, just a bit of the same off the top edge of the spine. The 'Minus' in my rating of the jacket is entirely due to the tear off the bottom edge of the rear cover which you can see in the fourth photo. The flaps are very clean and in solid shape. The jacket is NOT price-clipped, not clipped at all. From the dust jacket: 'One of the most remarkable satirists in American literature and one of the sharpest cultural historians of his time, Ring Lardner is still better known to many people as a successful journalist and popular entertainer. Now, with authority and with contagious enthusiasm, Maxwell Geismar examines the development of this distinguished writer, whose work will seem as fresh, as devastatingly funny, as pertinent to readers today as it did 50 years ago (add some more years) at the peak of Lardner's career.' From Geismar's NY Times obituary in 1979: 'Mr. Geismar considered himself a historian who viewed American life through its writers. He was Phi Beta Kappa at Columbia, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees, and he taught at Harvard; but his criticism was devoid of any academic tone. His social orientation and his literary perceptions were radical. His entry in Who's Who in America includes a quotation: "I despise and detest all literary fabrications (and there are many), fads, hoaxes, etc. and all writers who know but do not reveal the truth about their world and their times." Geismar wrote the introduction to Eldridge Cleaver's Soul on Ice. Seller Inventory # 002757

Bibliographic Details

Title: Ring Lardner And The Portrait Of Folly (Only...

Publisher: Thomas Y. Crowell, New York

Publication Date: 1972

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good Minus

Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

Hardcover in dust jacket, First Printing, published 1972 by Thomas Y. Crowell, blue cloth, the Twentieth Century American Writers series, 166pp. Lardner was one of the most remarkable satirists in American literature and one of the sharpest cultural historians of his time but is better known to many people as a successful journalist and popular entertainer. Geismar examines the development of this distinguished writer, a biographical and critical account