Seven Men

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1920. Hardcover. Acceptable. First American Edition. 8vo. Limited to 2,000 copies, this being No. 101. 22.5 cm x 17.5 cm, Pp. 238, 5 tipped-in illustrations, black cloth, top edge gilt. Covers rubbed with 8 cm slit along cloth over front joint, 1.5 cm vertical tear at head of spine. Armorial bookplate of Canadian literary giant, Robertson Davies to front pastedown. On flyleaf in Davies' calligraphic hande: "From the library of Norman Endicott - first American Edition - given to him by Douglas Duncan". R.D.'s note in this volume is not quite correct. Loosely inserted with the book is a handwritten note, from DMD (Douglas Moerdyke Duncan) to Betty (Norman's wife). At the top outer corner of the front blank in Duncan's miniscule writing: "To Heggs Sept. 1925 DMD" - Betty's nickname. The letter was removed prior to R.D.'s purchase of the book, but is now, serendipitously, married with it again. It reads: "Dear Betty, The general appearance of this choice volume seems to requires some slight explanation, if not apology. Knowing my thrift in a certain nourishing luxury, you may be sure this was - half price of not - at least a bargain. I had, weeks before, ordered a delayed copy through Eaton's, but when I picked this up I thought - and, on appeal, the Rhodes Scholar (Norman Endicott, or course, a keen collector of Beerbohm] supported my opinion - that, in spite of its obviously second hand appearance, you might prefer to have this limited edition, rather than the "(Popular) Fourth Printing", positively exoteric in its lack of restriction, almost forbidding in its impeccable cleanness. The very grubbiness of this copy will no doubt give an immediate air of intimacy, and will, I hope, endear it to you. DMD. September 21, 1925.