The Age of Innocence
by Wharton, Edith
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Very Good/Very Good Plus
- Seller
-
SANTA BARBARA, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Modern Library, 1948. Pretty nice copy but for underlining in ink done on maybe 10 pages. The pages that have underlining have very little actual underlining. Tight and square. Small stain on top page edges. Price intact jacket ($1.65) sunned a bit on spine but is clean and bright. In mylar. . Early Printing. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good Plus. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.
Synopsis
Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence is set in upper-class New York City in the 1870s, during the so-called Gilded Age. The novel, which takes its title from artist Joshua Reynolds’ 1785 painting of a little girl, focuses on impending marriage of an upper-class couple: Newland Archer, a distinguished lawyer, and the shy, but lovely May Welland. Enter the bride's cousin, Ellen Olenska, plagued by a scandalous separation from her European husband, a Polish count. The presence of Ellen, a classic femme fatale, threatens the happiness of Newland and May. However, May’s determination must not be undermined as she proceeds to use everything in her power to ensure her marriage to Newland. Though the novel questions the assumptions and morals of the Gilded Age, it never explicitly condemns the era. …And perhaps it should have. The Age of Innocence won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, making Wharton the first woman to win the prize; however, upon being awarded the honor, the novel was praised as “best present[ing] the wholesome atmosphere of American life and the highest standard of American manners and manhood.” Many claimed that even Wharton was taken aback when reviewers failed to see the irony of the title and her social criticism of 1870s New York society. Of the many film, television, and theatrical adaptations of The Age of Innocence, perhaps most notable is the 1993 film of the same name, directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Michelle Pfeiffer as Countess Ellen Olenska, Daniel Day-Lewis as Newland Archer, and Winona Ryder as May Welland Archer. The film won an Oscar for costume design and Ryder was not only nominated for an Oscar, but won a Golden Globe Award for her portrayal of May Welland Archer. The Age of Innocence is ranked 58th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century and 45th on The Guardian’s list of the 100 best novels.
Read More: Identifying first editions of The Age of Innocence
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Details
- Bookseller
- Timothy Norlen Bookseller
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 017743
- Title
- The Age of Innocence
- Author
- Wharton, Edith
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good Plus
- Edition
- Early Printing
- Publisher
- Modern Library
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1948
- Size
- 8vo - over 7¾" - 9&f
- Bookseller catalogs
- Classic Authors;
Terms of Sale
Timothy Norlen Bookseller
Books sent out within 24 - 48 hours upon receipt of order. Return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 15 days after delivery if an item arrives that is not as described.
About the Seller
Timothy Norlen Bookseller
Biblio member since 2019
SANTA BARBARA, California
About Timothy Norlen Bookseller
I am a internet based bookstore that specializes in Modern First Editions, film sources, Mystery and Detective fiction and Western Americana. I have approximately 10,000 books, primarily first editions with about 1300 of them signed by the author. I try and stock only books that are sound, clean and attractive.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Sunned
- Damage done to a book cover or dust jacket caused by exposure to direct sunlight. Very strong fluorescent light can cause slight...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
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