Angels on the Bough

Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers, Ltd, 1936. Scarce first edition, first printing of the author's first novel, review copy with the publisher's sticker on front pastedown. Some fading to lettering on cloth, a few nicks and scuffs, corners and ends of spine lightly worn. 8vo. 317 pages. Original brown cloth, gilt lettered. Samuel Morris Steward later wrote erotica under the name Phil Andros and counted Gertrude Stein and Alfred Kinsey as his greatest mentors. A pioneer both in gay fiction and as a tattoo artist, Steward lived most of his life in Chicago and San Francisco. ANGELS ON THE BOUGH tells the story of the intertwined lives of a small group of characters in an Ohio college town. Its sympathetic portrayal of a prostitute caused Steward's dismissal from the State College of Washington where he was teaching English. Review copies – such as this one – started to reach campus in May 1936 (a publication date of May 15 is stamped on the review label) and rumors circled about its distasteful content. Steward telegrammed the publisher James H. Gipson and asked for it not to be sold on campus, but it was too late. Despite strong reviews in the NY Times and elsewhere, Steward was dismissed. Steward and Gipson publicized the university's dismissal of Steward and after months of investigation the Association of American University Professors reported that Steward had been unjustly let go. Steward quickly found a position at Loyola. An AAUP member commented on the irony: “Apparently our Catholic brethren are much more tolerant than a state institution in Washington.”.