THE PROFESSOR'S HOUSE by Cather, Willa - 1925

1925. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1925. Original orange cloth with dark blue cloth spine, with dust jacket. First Edition (trade copy; there were also 225 limited-signed copies). Along with her two Nebraska masterpieces and DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP, this novel is often cited as one of Cather's greatest works. It tells the tale of a newly-retired professor and his difficulty both in leaving the house he inhabited for so many years, and in looking forward to what is left of life. Cather actually first wrote the tale "Tom Outland's Story," and only later framed it (as a flashback) between the first and third parts which deal with the professor and his family. This volume is in fine condition; the rather scarce dust jacket is near-fine (unusually clean, and with wear limited to half-inch strips of abrasion along each fore-edge (partly affecting the third "s" in the title); as usual, the orange publisher's logo on the jacket spine has faded. Crane A14.a.i.