Various (Ford, Ford Madox (Editor); Conrad, Joseph; Cummings, E.E.; Eliot, T.S.; Pound, Ezra; Wells, H.G. et al.)

The Transatlantic Review Vol. 1, No. 1 (January 1924)

Paris, France: Transatlantic Review, 1924. First Printing. Sewn Binding. The celebrated first number of the venerable literary journal edited & with contributions by Ford Madox Ford (1873-1939, here also referred to as Ford Madox Hueffer), the canonical British writer. With poetry including four poems by E.E. Cummings (1894-1962) & two Cantos by Ezra Pound (1885-1972); prose including "The Nature of a Crime," a collaboration between Ford/Hueffer & the great Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad (1857-1924, author of Heart of Darkness & other classics); "Communications" (i.e. letters-to-the-editor) by Conrad, T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) & H.G. Wells (1866-1946); & the first segment of a serial story, "Some Do Not, " by Ford; & more. Trade-format softcover in wrappers with sewn binding, presumed first printing with no references to further printings (there appears to be no copyright page per se, the front cover & contents page near back of the issue are the only sources of information). From the collection of George Bornstein (1941-2021), author, scholar, academician here at the University of Michigan- a quintessential Man of Letters who was a dearly missed friend & mentor to this writer. An iconic literary collectible with distinguished provenance. In relatively good condition- to say this item is fragile would be an understatement, but it is about as good & intact as we have seen or could be expected from a century-old journal produced on not-the-best paper stock: Mild-to-moderate rubbing, browning, creasing & scratching to front, back covers & spine; moderate-to-extensive wear at edges & corners of same with chipping, mostly closed tears resulting in slight-to-significant loss of paper incl. exposure of sewn binding at upper spine; moderate rubbing, browning & chipping to edges of text block (all untrimmed). Interior (again relatively) good with mild-to-moderate browning (beyond natural light brown color, as with covers & spine) to inner covers & page leaves, the latter mostly at blank margins/edges; some pages are uncut at side edge & therefore inaccessible without very careful cutting; extensive tiny bumps, creases & chips mostly at thin edges & corners of leaves as noted re: text block above. Good. [Item #5881]

Price: $200.00