The Spenders: a Tale of the Third Generation

Boston: Lothrop Publishing Co, (1902). First Edition. First printing. Octavo. Publisher's binding of red cloth over boards, titled in gilt with pictorial device to front cover; top edge gilt; x,512pp; frontispiece and five unnumbered leaves of plates after original illustrations by O'Neill Latham. Mild bumps to board corners, but overall a bright, clean example, Near Fine in the attractive publisher's cloth. Early pencil ownership signature of an "H.S. McMillan" to front endpaper.

Wilson's second published book, a portrait of the nouveau-riche in Gilded-Age Manhattan. It was the first of many commercial successes for Wilson, who would go on to write such best-sellers as Ruggles of Red Gap (1915) and Merton of the Movies (1922). The Spenders was adapted for the screen in 1921, a silent film directed by Jack Conway, starring Claire Adams and Robert McKim. Overlooked by Hanna. SMITH W-723.