Stated first edition, first printing (I-Y) of E.B. White’s paean to New York, published in 1949 by Harper & Brothers. 8vo (5.25” x 7.75”), publisher’s tan cloth lettered in red, 55 pages, housed in the uncommon Book-of-the-Month Club dust jacket issued for the title's inaugural selection. An exceptionally bright, clean copy with fresh cloth, crisp stamping, and no ownership markings. Jacket complete with light toning, a few short closed tears and minor creasing, and tiny chips at spine ends and upper front corner; protected in archival Mylar.
Among the most enduring literary portraits of New York City, written in the summer of 1948 and first published in Holidaybefore its appearance in book form the following year. White's elegant meditation on Manhattan's vitality, contradictions, and vulnerability has become a cornerstone of New York literature, celebrated by The New York Times as one of the ten finest books ever written about the city.
An appealing and increasingly recognized publication variant. Although issued as the Book-of-the-Month Club selection, the volume retains the publisher's First Edition statement and first-printing code I-Y, together with the specially printed Book-of-the-Month Club dust jacket. Examples of this simultaneous issue also exhibit the characteristic small impressed red circle at the lower rear board, a manufacturing point found on other documented copies of the variant. Bibliographical treatment has varied among dealers, with some describing the issue as a first edition in the BOMC jacket and others as a Book-of-the-Month Club printing from first-edition plates. Comparable copies are seldom encountered in commerce.
A handsome, highly presentable copy of one of the essential books on New York.
Stated first edition, first printing (I-Y) of E.B. White’s paean to New York, published in 1949 by Harper & Brothers. 8vo (5.25” x 7.75”), publisher’s tan cloth lettered in red, 55 pages, housed in the uncommon Book-of-the-Month Club dust jacket issued for the title's inaugural selection. An exceptionally bright, clean copy with fresh cloth, crisp stamping, and no ownership markings. Jacket complete with light toning, a few short closed tears and minor creasing, and tiny chips at spine ends and upper front corner; protected in archival Mylar.
Among the most enduring literary portraits of New York City, written in the summer of 1948 and first published in Holidaybefore its appearance in book form the following year. White's elegant meditation on Manhattan's vitality, contradictions, and vulnerability has become a cornerstone of New York literature, celebrated by The New York Times as one of the ten finest books ever written about the city.
An appealing and increasingly recognized publication variant. Although issued as the Book-of-the-Month Club selection, the volume retains the publisher's First Edition statement and first-printing code I-Y, together with the specially printed Book-of-the-Month Club dust jacket. Examples of this simultaneous issue also exhibit the characteristic small impressed red circle at the lower rear board, a manufacturing point found on other documented copies of the variant. Bibliographical treatment has varied among dealers, with some describing the issue as a first edition in the BOMC jacket and others as a Book-of-the-Month Club printing from first-edition plates. Comparable copies are seldom encountered in commerce.
A handsome, highly presentable copy of one of the essential books on New York.
