The Age of Innocence by Wharton, Edith - 1920

New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1920 First edition, first printing, with "(1)" to last page of text. Publisher's red cloth, lettered in black to front board and spine. A very good copy, light rubbing to extremities and sunning to spine, one small tear (approx. 1 cm.) to spine head just touching the "A" in "Age", text block lightly toned, else very clean; lacking dust jacket. Overall, a tight, fresh copy. Garrison A30.1.aI. Originally published serially in the Pictorial Review in 1920, The Age of Innocence is Wharton's twelfth novel. Notably, The Age of Innocence won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, making it the first book by a female author to win the prestigious award. It tells the story of Newland Archer and his fiancé May Welland as they prepare for their upcoming marriage, a joyous occasion that is threatened by the appearance of the bride's dramatic cousin Countess Ellen Olenska. Like many of Wharton's novels, The Age of Innocence features the upper-class society of New York City in the 19th century. Although she moved to Paris in 1913 and spent much of the remainder of her life in France, Wharton notably continued to write about New York City and its social elite and drew much inspiration from her own childhood experiences living on Washington Square Park. Wharton revives some of this novel's characters, including Mrs. (Catherine) Manson Mingott, Sillerton Jackson, Mrs. Lemuel Struthers and Henry van der Luyden, in her 1924 set of novellas Old New York.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good.