The Bridge of San Luis Rey

New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1927 Illustrated by Amy Drevenstedt, with frontispiece and nine illustrations. First edition, first printing. Inscribed by Wilder on title page: "Eliz. and Ina / devotedly / Thornton / New York 1959." Publisher's light brown cloth, front board decorated in green, lettered in black, pictorial endpapers illustrated with a decorative map of Peru. Good or better book, with significant damage and toning to head of spine, light rubbing to corners, a couple of light bumps to board edges, previous owner's bookplate tipped in between front flyleaf verso and half-title page, and a touch of soiling to front free endpaper, pages (truncated) otherwise fresh and clean; good unclipped dust jacket, with some toning to spine and extremities, some chipping to panel edges and head of spine, tape reinforcement to jacket verso, light chipping along front flap fold, and a small mark on pen to rear panel. Overall, a bright inscribed copy of Wilder's classic novel. Winner of the 1928 Pulitzer Prize, The Bridge of San Luis Rey tells the story of the fictional collapse of an Inca-made rope bridge in Lima, Peru, at noon on Friday, July 20, 1714. The novel is divided into five sections, each of which explores the bridge collapse from different perspectives; the first and last sections recount the event and its memorial as well as Franciscan monk Brother Juniper's six-year effort to chronicle the stories of the 5 victims of the collapse, while sections 2-4 flashback to the victims' lives and the events that led up to their deaths. In addition to being one of his most popular texts, The Bridge of San Luis Rey is credited with establishing Wilder as an important American writer. . First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Dust Jacket Included. (Inventory #: TW029)