Main Street (Presentation Copy)
- SIGNED
- New York: Harcourt Brace and Howe, 1920
New York: Harcourt Brace and Howe, 1920. First edition. Very Good. Second state (with type battered on pp. 54 and 387). Inscribed by Sinclair Lewis on front free endpaper: "To Mr. + Mrs Will Owen Jones Christmas, 1920 William Allen White asks me to send you this book in Christmas greeting- + he let me tag along after hin!/ Sinclair Lewis Washington Dec. 1920." The inscription is probably to William Owen Jones managing editor of the Nebraska State Journal and author of the book By Land and Sea, a publication on foreign travel.
Octavo (7 3/8 x 5 inches; 187 x 127 mm). [2, blank], [8], 451, [3, blank] pp. Original dark blue cloth stamped in orange on front cover and spine. Spine lightly sunned and the edges of the spine and boards with a small amount of wear. Small booksellers stamp on front pastedown. Overall a very good copy.
The most famous novel by the first American to win a Nobel Prize in Literature. Main Street is a satirical book taking aim at the fantasy of a perfect American small town, inspired in part by Lewis's own hometown. The plot follows Carol Kennicott as she attempts to open the minds and change the ways of her fellow citizens in Gopher Prairie, Minnesota. "Main Street is an exposé of midwestern small-town life, depicting the prejudices of America's villagers and expressing the quintessential statement of the 'revolt against the village' introduced by nineteenth-century novelists such as E. W. Howe and Joseph Kirkland. Lewis's satirical wit and his skill at creating memorable characters, however, set him apart from his literary predecessors. The novel was not only a bestseller, but a cultural phenomenon...The novel was controversial, however, some reviewers seeing it as unfair to the small town and even unfair to the American character. In part because of its controversial nature, the novel was passed over for the Pulitzer Prize, for which it was a major contender in 1921." (American Dictionary of National Biography). Very Good.
Octavo (7 3/8 x 5 inches; 187 x 127 mm). [2, blank], [8], 451, [3, blank] pp. Original dark blue cloth stamped in orange on front cover and spine. Spine lightly sunned and the edges of the spine and boards with a small amount of wear. Small booksellers stamp on front pastedown. Overall a very good copy.
The most famous novel by the first American to win a Nobel Prize in Literature. Main Street is a satirical book taking aim at the fantasy of a perfect American small town, inspired in part by Lewis's own hometown. The plot follows Carol Kennicott as she attempts to open the minds and change the ways of her fellow citizens in Gopher Prairie, Minnesota. "Main Street is an exposé of midwestern small-town life, depicting the prejudices of America's villagers and expressing the quintessential statement of the 'revolt against the village' introduced by nineteenth-century novelists such as E. W. Howe and Joseph Kirkland. Lewis's satirical wit and his skill at creating memorable characters, however, set him apart from his literary predecessors. The novel was not only a bestseller, but a cultural phenomenon...The novel was controversial, however, some reviewers seeing it as unfair to the small town and even unfair to the American character. In part because of its controversial nature, the novel was passed over for the Pulitzer Prize, for which it was a major contender in 1921." (American Dictionary of National Biography). Very Good.
Details
Title
Main Street (Presentation Copy)
Author
Lewis, Sinclair
Condition
Very Good
Publisher
Harcourt Brace and Howe: New York
Date
1920
Edition
First edition