Quartet [Roman Fever, The Other Two, The Last Asset, and Afterward]; Four Stories by Wharton, Edith - 1975

Kentfield, California: The Allen Press, 1975. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine/fine. One of 140 copies, folio size, 130 pp., with prospectus. The forty-first limited edition from The Allen Press, featuring four hand-picked, provocative stories by Edith Newbold Jones Wharton (1862-1937). Wharton "produced fourteen novels, nine novelettes, eleven volumes of short stories, volumes of criticism and art appreciation, narratives of her war experiences, and an autobiography. A literary critic described her skills thusly: 'One reason why Edith Wharton rises so precisely above her contemporaries lies in her ability in making her characters dominate the situations. She clothed her unflagging inventions, her remarkable character-drawing, and her unswerving reality of situation in a style so distinguished that we read her fiction for the sheer joy of tasting the fine phrasing which fits its theme with unobtrusive nicety.' The four stories in the present edition were selected on the basis of most favorable reviews by literary critics, plus an inclination toward textual and geographical variety--Rome, New York, Paris and England" (Per, "Announcing A New De Luxe Limited Edition... ).

___DESCRIPTION: A handsome antique vermilion and beige Fortuny print, hand-blocked in Venice, over boards, with a matching quarter cloth backstrip, fore- and tail edges uncut, title page in orange and gray, each of the four stories opens with an illustration in colour with a Victorian armorial-shaped gray background, an inner frame printed in a different color for each story, printed on the gray backgrounds are line drawings in black portraying allusively a significant feature of the story, each story with its own colour for the illustration and decorations surrounding the running-titles (orange, green, blue, purple); Romanee type designed by Jan Van Krimpen, handset, display type is Dorchester Script, all-rag paper from St Cuthberts Mill in England, hand-made to the press's specifications with their watermark, folio size (13 1/8" by 8 7/8"), 130 pp., limited edition, one of 140 copies. With prospectus slipped in, protected by a transparent acetate dust jacket.

___CONDITION: A fine copy; the covers clean and unrubbed, the binding tight with solid hinges, the interior clean and bright, and free of prior owner markings; the shelfback shows a slight lean which seems to be from the binding process (not cocked); clean, crisp, as new. The acetate dust jacket also fine, still clear, without edgewear and showing only light stray marks to the exterior; prospectus fine with only original folds.

___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard shipping charge does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.

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