Tales Before Midnight (Signed & Inscribed Association First Edition)

8vo., 274pp. Solid First Edition, with the Farrar & Rinehart logo on the copyright page, of this uncommon anthology of primarily supernatural and fantasy stories. Bound in original blue cloth with titles in silver spine and front board. Square and tight with very little actual wear. SSpine moderately toned, more so at the heel. Some areas of boards toned. Gutters and paste-downs with off-setting. Very attractive unclipped dust-jacket, ($2.50 on top of front flap), has some very mild wear to edges and tips and a few short, shallow surface creases. Spine very lightly toned. Still fresh and bright with no chipping or tears. Inscribd and signed by the author on the front end-paper, "For Rich and Alice Lee with love from the author. Stephen Vincent Benet". Richard and Alice Lee Myers were noted socialites and close personal friends with Benet. "Well known in New York and Paris social circles as a fine amateur musician, (Richard), the former student of Nadia Boulanger composed the piano music for Archibald MacLeish's "Alien" and some music for Philip Barry's play "Without Love." In 1949 Richard E. Myers received the Cross of the French Legion of Honor for encouraging the performance of French music in the United States and for his work with American aid to France. He served on the board of directors of the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera Guild. He was also a connoisseur of French wines, associate editor of Gourmet, and a regular contributor to Town & Country." Known primarily for hosting a salon that, ".that attracted scores of American and French writers, playwrights, singers, producers, critics, musicians, and diplomats." Alice Lee ".wrote, from Paris, a fashion column for the Chicago Daily News." Additionally signed by ".American stage and film actor, director, playwright, and educator", Charles Nolte on the front end-paper. Nolte was also a goof friend of both Benet and the Myers' and traveled in the same circle. A sharp collectable copy, uncommonly signed, and a nice association. (Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Guide to the Myers Family Papers; Wikipedia; Bleiler, Checklist of Science-Fiction & Supernatural Fiction, p. 20).…