Jones, James

From Here to Eternity

New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1951. First Edition. Hardcover. "The publishers believe that the appearance of this novel is of comparable importance to the publication of This Side of Paradise or Look Homeward, Angel. For like the first novels of (F. Scott) Fitzgerald and (Thomas) Wolfe, From Here to Eternity introduces a writer who will take a commanding place in American literature. The events of the novel occur in Hawaii during the months before Pearl Harbor. But the story might have happened anywhere, for its elements are the elements of life itself: Courage, brutality, love- and above all the loneliness and separateness of the human being, the impossibility of ever touching, except momentarily, the soul of another." (from front flap) The debut novel by James Jones (1921-1977), the popular, award-winning American novelist. An acclaimed bestseller from its first appearance & now a classic for which Jones is first & best known, From Here to Eternity was also the basis for the blockbuster 1953 film version starring Montgomery Clift (as the bugle-playing principal protagonist Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt), Deborah Kerr, Burt Lancaster, Donna Reed & Frank Sinatra. Hardcover in unclipped first-issue dust jacket (with $4.50 price printed on front flap, portrait of Jones on back cover), first edition, first printing as indicated by letter "A" & publisher's seal on copyright page. An iconic rarity that belongs in all collections of canonical American literature. See also our item No.s 4523, 4673. Book in very fine condition with only a tiny bit of rubbing to black-cloth front, back covers & spine; one very faint scratch at blank front cover; several miniscule spots at back cover; slight dulling of all-but-completely intact gilt lettering on spine; mild rubbing, browning & occasional spotting to edges of text block (side edge of same untrimmed as issued). Interior very fine with only very light browning, a few tiny spots to blank paste-downs & endpapers; a hint of browning mostly to blank margins of page leaves. Dust jacket fine with mild-to-moderate rubbing, browning & short, faint creases to front, back covers, spine & flaps; very slight wear & some tiny bumps, creases, very short tears & chips to edges & corners of same with minimal loss of paper esp. at/ near upper spine-edges & corners. Very Fine / Fine. [Item #4726]

Price: $400.00