The Disinherited [Inscribed to Milton Abernethy] - 1933

New York: Covici Friede Publishers, 1933. First Edition. First Printing. Octavo (19.5cm); russet cloth, with titles printed in black on spine; black topstain; dustjacket; [ii],[8],9-310pp. Inscribed by Conroy within a few weeks of publication on the front endpaper: "For Milton Abernethy / with sincere regards / Jack Conroy / Moberly, M. Dec.9, 1933." Light wear to spine ends and extremities; faint foxing to text edges, preliminary, and terminal leaves; some mild silverfishing to upper spine and board extremities; Very Good+. In the first issue (pictorial) dustjacket, with wraparound artwork by Murray Levin; unclipped (priced $2.00), spine-sunned, edgeworn, with several nicks and tears, shallow losses to spine ends, and a few splits to joints strengthened archivally on verso; just Very Good. Conroy's first novel, cited by Walter Rideout as "one of the relatively few proletarian novels written by a working-class author." After the deaths of his brothers and father in a series of mining accidents, Conroy's protagonist bounces around the country, working an endless string of jobs, striking, and seeing these strikes systematically broken by militia and crooked union leaders. The recipient of this copy, Milton Avant Abernethy (1911-1991), was a fellow radical and magazine publisher best known for editing Contempo: A Review of Books and Personalities between 1931-1934. He also co-founded The Intimate Bookshop in Chapel Hill, NC, which survived from 1931-1953. RIDEOUT pp.182-84, 296; BLAKE pp.162, 167-68; MILES 4984.