Vertigo: A Novel in Woodcuts

New York: Random House, 1937. First edition. Hardcover. Good. Lynd Ward. [490 pp. 230 wood engravings]. Octavo [21.5 cm] Full dark blue cloth with spiral and star illustrations. Thin losses from cloth at the ends of the spine. Hinges soft. Text block cracked at the beginning. Pastedowns unevenly darkened. Christmas gift inscription on the front flyleaf. Normal browning and aging to the pages. Lacking the rare dust jacket. Considered one of Lynd Ward's finest works, "Vertigo" is the sixth and final of his “wordless novels,” and is told in 230 beautiful and striking woodcut images. The narrative takes place during the Great Depression and explores themes of greed, love, despair, and death, through the progression of three characters: a young woman, a young man, and an ailing capitalist. Ward produced his six wordless novels (proto-“graphic novels”) between 1929 and 1937, and although he continued to be an in-demand illustrator for the rest of his life, these early works show him at the height of his creative powers. Dance 10.