CATCHER IN THE RYE by Salinger J. D - 1951

Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951. First edition and first printing and in the first issue dustjacket. 8vo, publisher’s original black cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine. In the original dustjacket featuring Salinger’s photo on rear cover credited to Lotte Jacobi and $3 price correctly positioned on front flap. 277 pp. A well preserved copy, the black cloth with no fading and with the gilt bright, just some typical evidence of age or use, the text clean and fresh, an old unobtrusive crease to the lower corner section of the half-title, the scarce first issue jacket attractive with some inevitable edge-wear, a little bit of chipping, rubbing or mellowing and evidence of use. FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING OF AN AMERICAN ICONIC WORK AND A 20TH CENTURY LITERARY CLASSIC. J.D. Salinger’s first and still, most famous work.. Salinger tapped into a common and necessary theme in American literature with his unhappy teenage character, Holden Caulfield, who runs away from his boarding school as part of his disgust with 'phoniness'. Caufield's feelings and the idiom in which he communicates them have made the book a symbol of purity and sensitivity to generations of readers and has insured that it will remain a particularly coveted title in modern literature.
This is a very fresh and appealing copy, attractive jackets on this title are often extensively repaired or restored, but this copy is fully original and authentic and remains very handsome in spite of some minor wear and aging.