The White Peacock

New York: Harold Vinal, Ltd, 1928. First Edition. Slim octavo (16cm); grey paper-covered boards, with red printing, in grey and red dustwrapper; 54pp. Dustwrapper verso taped at joints and extremities with kraft paper; toning, smudging and soiling, with minor creases. Dampstain to upper extremities of boards and textblock; gentle handling wear. Unusually, a slip of paper with a "Bruce Humphries, Inc." imprint is tipped in over the publisher's information on the title page. Boards and copyright page show "Harold Vinal" as publisher; dustwrapper identifies "Bruce Humphries, Inc."; presumed remainder issue. Overall Very Good.

During a 1938 Writer's Club lecture, the extremely prolific author-of-many-trades Clement Wood once reported that he wrote, on average, 1,250,000 words a year. The ones within this little volume were obviously reserved for an impassioned tribute to his second wife, Gloria Goddard (pseud. Louise Logan; she penned the popular wartime "Susan Merton" books); the two remained married until his death in 1950.