"THE BEST WE HAVE": FAULKNER'S GO DOWN, MOSES, INCLUDING THE FIRST BOOK APPEARANCE OF "THE BEAR"

FAULKNER, William. Go Down, Moses. New York: Random House, (1942). Octavo, original midnight blue cloth, original dust jacket. $2500.

First trade edition, first issue, of Faulkner's masterpiece of interrelated short stories, with the first book appearance of "The Bear."

Go Down, Moses "was a landmark volume for Faulkner… Here we have the Southern dilemma, and Faulkner has transformed it into the American" (Karl, 665-67). "So committed was Faulkner to the expansive possibilities of the short story form that in Go Down, Moses he created what he always insisted was a novel composed entirely of interrelated stories previously published separately" (Gelfant, 252). One of the most acclaimed stories, "The Bear," had appeared, in abbreviated form, in the Saturday Evening Post the same year (Brodsky 229); the coming-of-age tale remains one of Faulkner's most anthologized. A contemporary review in the Boston Globe said of all the stories that they "represent William Faulkner at his best. Which is equivalent to saying the best we have." First issue, in secondary midnight blue binding with top edge unstained. According to Peterson, "Wartime cloth shortages and a slow sale combined to force Random House to bind to order with materials at hand"; he describes this binding as "extremely scarce." Stated "First Printing." Both the trade and rare signed limited copies of this book are from the same printing. Brodsky 232-234. Petersen A23.2g.

Book fine, dust jacket with light creasing, one short closed tear. A very attractive copy in near-fine condition.