GEORGE'S MOTHER - 1896

1896. New York / London: Edward Arnold, 1896. 8 pp undated ads. Original tan cloth. First Edition of Crane's fourth book (just after THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE). This is a tale of a church-going mother and her idealistic expectations for her saloon-going son (Crane's mother and brother are much in evidence). Like Crane's first book, MAGGIE (A Girl of the Streets), this is a tale of the degradation of life in the slums of New York City's Bowery. GEORGE'S MOTHER has received almost no critical consideration at all, although it is eminently more satisfactory in its realism, more convincing in characterization, and less bizarre in style than MAGGIE... The depiction of the relationship between George and his mother is not only decidedly superior in its elaboration and psychology to that between Maggie and her mother, but is also Crane's most significant exploration of the relationship between parents and children. [Brennan] In 1900 (the year of Crane's death from consumption at age 28), Heinemann of London published these two novellas together, as BOWERY TALES. This is a near-fine copy -- spine slightly darkened as usual, but without soil or wear. Williams & Starrett 6; Blanck 4073. Provenance: bookplate of Syracuse attorney Ephraim James Page (1867-1950).