[1st ed] The American Mind: An Interpretation of American Thought and Character Since the 1880's

First edition of Henry Steele Commager’s magisterial study of American literary and intellectual history, tracking the evolution of liberalism, during the period 1880-1950. Published in 1950 by Yale University Press. 8vo, 476 pages, hardcover with dust jacket. Commager (1902-1998) was a prolific cultural, intellectual, and constitutional historian who trained at the University of Chicago and taught at NYU and Columbia Universities, and at Amherst College. Along with peers such as Samuel Eliot Morison, Richard Hoftstadter, and Arthur Schlesinger Jr, Commager functioned as a public historian, pitching his works to a more general audience, and achieving a wide readership. Minor rubbing and bumping to dj, with light chipping to spine ends, and small damp stains.