Cheever, John

Homage to Shakespeare

Stevenson, CT: Country Squires Books, 1968. Limited First Edition Thus. Hardcover. Signed by John Cheever. An enchanting early short story by John Cheever (1912-1982), the great American author who has been canonized in the Library of America series. Originally published in Story magazine during 1937, this cozily captivating yarn was written when Cheever was only in his mid-twenties, yet already exhibits the qualities that would secure his status as among the very foremost American short-story writers. As Cheever's excellent biographer Blake Bailey writes in one of the LOA volumes he edited, Cheever's "...stories rank among the finest achievements of twentieth-century short fiction." As the story's narrator recounts his grandfather's alcohol-fueled predicaments while musing on the latter's much-used compilation of Shakespeare plays that serves as a sort of Proustian madeleine, the reader experiences being let in on an intimate memoir that is also a gem of an allegorical literary artifice. Offered here is a limited production of August 1968, hardcover in dust jacket with title affixed to front cover, in turn protected by publisher's clear plastic over-jacket. One of 150 copies signed by Cheever & hand-numbered at colophon, this is copy No. 90/150. A very rare, exquisite & most desirable John Cheever collectible. Book in very fine condition with only slight rubbing, fading & some age-related(?) light spotting to blue cloth front, back covers & spine (gilt lettering on front cover completely bright & intact); a bit of wear at edges & corners of same. Interior very fine with slight fading/browning to blank violet paste-downs & endpapers, all page leaves pristine. Dust jacket near-fine with light rubbing & mild-to-moderate fading/browning to violet front, back covers, spine & flaps esp. at spine & margins (blank flaps clipped at all corners as issued); mild wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same; one short, closed vertical tear at upper edge of front cover near spine. Clear protective jacket near-fine with minor rubbing, scratching & edgewear; several short, mostly closed tears esp. at/near upper front cover spine-edge with very slight loss of plastic. Very Fine / Near Fine. [Item #5175]

Price: $150.00