In the Heart of a Fool [Inscribed & Signed by Upton Sinclair to His Mother]

New York: Macmillan Company, 1918. First Edition. Octavo (19.25cm.); original green decorative cloth embossed in gilt; [8],615,[1],[7](ads)pp. Cloth rather worn and textblock rather loose in binding, spine gilt quite dulled, else a Good and sound copy. Inscribed and signed by Upton Sinclair on front free endpaper: "To Mother / with Love / Xmas, 1918 / Upton." Romantic Civil War-era novel presented to his mother Priscilla, née Harden (1857-1931), with whom Upton Sinclair had a rather frought relationship throughout the former's life. Though born to a wealthy Baltimore family, Priscilla raised her son in puritanical poverty, sharing her bed with him on (truncated) the nights when Upton Beall Sinclair Sr., an alcoholic, was out on a bender. Despite this early dependency, Priscilla's terrible snobbishness eventually led to her increasing estrangement from his socialist son. By 1918 Priscilla had been widowed for over a decade, though her son pointedly refused to offer her much-needed financial support, claiming that her millionaire sister Maria, married to the banker John Randolph Bland, could easily provide for her. SMITH W-518. (Inventory #: 32063)