Agee, James

A Death in the Family

New York, NY: McDowell, Obolensky, 1957. First Edition. Hardcover. "This extremely moving novel deals with a universal human situation. It is the story of a loving and closely knit family and of the loss and heartbreak in that intimate circle when a beloved member suddenly dies. Yet A Death in the Family is not a sad book. It is essentially a story of love, which glows with affection and tenderness, and of great courage when tragedy changes utterly the lives of all who are left behind." (from front flap) The final, posthumously published novel by James Agee (1909-1955), the great American novelist, journalist & film critic. This classic novel is largely autobiographical, based on his father's sudden death when James was six years old, & won the Pulitzer Prize the year after it was first published (1958). Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first edition, first printing as indicated by $3.95 price on front flap; blue lettering & logo on title page spread; "Walking" mistakenly printed instead of "Waking" as first word on pg. 80 & greyish-blue dyed upper edge of text block. An essential collectible in the Agee, & for that matter world-literary canon, in its rarest original form. Book in very fine condition with only mild-to-moderate wear at edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; mild rubbing & browning to side & lower edges of text block; moderate fading to dyed upper edge of same. Interior very fine with only very slight browning & sparse spotting to blank paste-downs & endpapers; small-to-medium light crease at upper corner of one page leaf (pgs. 309-310); small area of light rubbing at same; very short, faint crease & smaller area of rubbing at next leaf (pgs. 311-12). Unrestored dust jacket relatively near-fine with light rubbing, browning, scratching & faint creasing to front, back covers, spine & flaps; mild wear, some tiny bumps, creases & a few very short, mostly closed tears at thin edges & corners of same (esp. upper spine-edge & corners with very slight loss of paper); "DEC 7 1957" stamped near lower left corner of rear flap with very small hand-written ink squiggle just below. Very Fine / Near Fine. [Item #4469]

Price: $200.00