Hope Trueblood

New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1918. First edition. Hardcover. First edition. (First printing with title page dated 1918 and "Published, May, 1918" on copyright page.) vi, 363, [1], [6 ads] pp. Bound in publisher's blue ribbed cloth lettered in gilt. A Fine copy with a few minor spots of foxing to fore edge but bright and clean both inside and outside, in a Fine dust jacket with just a hint of sunning to spine panel. Rare in such a lovely jacket.The second novel by bestselling author and poet Pearl L. Curran, who claimed to be channelling the spirit of Patience Worth, a 17th century English immigrant to America. In a Smithsonian Magazine article Gioia (truncated) Diliberto writes: "Speaking through a Ouija board operated by Pearl Lenore Curran, a St. Louis housewife of limited education, Patience Worth was nothing short of a national phenomenon in the early years of the 20th century. Though her works are virtually forgotten today, the prestigious Braithwaite anthology listed five of her poems among the nation's best published in 1917, and the New York Times hailed her first novel as a 'feat of literary composition.' Her output was stunning. In addition to seven books, she produced voluminous poetry, short stories, plays and reams of sparkling conversation-nearly four million words between 1913 and 1937.". (Inventory #: 140944922)