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The Headmaster (Inscribed by Helen Boyden!!)
by John McPhee
- Used
- near fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Near Fine
- Seller
-
Waccabuc, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Farrar , Straus and Giroux, 1966. Cloth. Near Fine/Near Fine. SIGNED BY HELEN C. BOYDEN, THE TRUE MATRIARCH OF DEERFIELD ACADEMY, on the front free endpaper. (In our experience, Helen Boyden's signature on copies of "The Headmaster", the only one we've ever encountered, is significantly scarcer than John McPhee's or even Frank Boyden's signature). A superb copy to boot of the 1966 stated 1st printing. Tight and Near Fine to Fine in a crisp, price-intact, Near Fine dustjacket. In the book, Frank Boyden says of his better half Helen: "She is much more important than I am. She has a wonderful sense of humor and deep affection for the boys. She has more influence on the boys than I have. She makes them want to do the work. Her judgment is excellent. She could have been the head of any school." And John McPhee adds: "She is gentle, understanding, forgiving, irreverent about her husband. Beyond this, she is the brightest person on the faculty and the busiest employee of the school. Smith College once gave Mrs. Boyden an honorary degree with a citation that read: ''To Helen C. Boyden, who, with some small help from her husband, built a great school.'"
Synopsis
Starting in 1902 at a country school that had an enrollment of fourteen, Frank Boyden built an academy that has long since taken its place on a level with Andover and Exeter. Boyden, who died in 1972, was the school's headmaster for sixty-six years. John McPhee portrays a remarkable man "at the near end of a skein of magnanimous despots who...created enduring schools through their own individual energies, maintained them under their own absolute rule, and left them forever imprinted with their own personalities." More than simply a portrait of the Headmaster of Deerfield Academy, it is a revealing look at the nature of private school education in America.
Read More: Identifying first editions of The Headmaster (Inscribed by Helen Boyden!!)
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Details
- Bookseller
- Appledore Books, ABAA
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 18292
- Title
- The Headmaster (Inscribed by Helen Boyden!!)
- Author
- John McPhee
- Format/Binding
- Cloth
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Farrar , Straus and Giroux
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1966
- Keywords
- rare literary Association copies, rare John McPhee, Deerfield Academy, rare modern first editions
Terms of Sale
Appledore Books, ABAA
All books are offered subject to prior sale. Materials are returnable within 1 week of receipt provided prior notice is given.
About the Seller
Appledore Books, ABAA
Biblio member since 2005
Waccabuc, New York
About Appledore Books, ABAA
Buy and sell - rare, unusual and antiquarian - art, photography, literature, scholarly, sports, childrens, bindings.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Crisp
- A term often used to indicate a book's new-like condition. Indicates that the hinges are not loosened. A book described as crisp...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
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