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MAIN STREET
by Lewis, Sinclair
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Rockville, Maryland, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Harcourt, Brace & Howe, 1920. First Edition, First Printing, Second Issue. Hardcover. Octavo, 541 pages. In Very Good condition lacking dust jacket. Bound in publisher's blue cloth with orange stamping. Boards show light sun-fading to spine and rubbing to boards with binding slightly loose. Textblock is clean with light age toning, small inscription on front end page. First edition, second issue with battered '5' on page 54, and battered "y" in "may" on page 387. MA consignment. Book is shelved off the sales floor, in the upstairs office area Room B [Middle room]. 1315496. Special Collections.
Synopsis
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis is a satirical novel concerning small town America. The story follows Carol Milford, a liberal and free-spirited woman, as she marries Dr. William Kennicott and settles in his hometown of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota. Upon arrival, Carol is shocked by the conservatism and general backwardness of Gopher Prairie—which is loosely based on Lewis’ hometown of Sauk Centre, Minnesota. The residents of Gopher Prairie seem more interested in gossip than larger cultural or social issues, which frustrates Carol. In various attempts to reform the town, she implements one improvement project after another, all of them ending in failure. In the end, Carol realizes that her frustrations with the individuals of the town should really have been directed towards its institutions and that although she was been beaten, she has kept the faith. Lewis initially seems to be attacking his small town roots in the novel, but his satire is double-edged; Main Street is not only a critique of simple townspeople, but also of the superficial intellectuals who look down on them. Main Street was not expected to be a commercial success. Lewis anticipated selling 10,000 copies; Harcourt, Brace and Howe anticipated 20,000. In the first six months of 1921, Main Street sold over 180,000 copies. Main Street is ranked 68th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century. The novel was initially awarded the Pulitzer Prize for literature that year, but the Board of Trustees overturned the decision and gave the prize to Edith Wharton for The Age of Innocence instead. (In 1925, Lewis rejected the Pulitzer Prize for Arrowsmith because he felt that he had deserved the prize for Main Street.)
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Details
- Bookseller
- Second Story Books, ABAA
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 1315496
- Title
- MAIN STREET
- Author
- Lewis, Sinclair
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition, First Printing, Second Issue
- Publisher
- Harcourt, Brace & Howe
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1920
- Keywords
- American Literature
Terms of Sale
Second Story Books, ABAA
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged. Trade discounts only on items not identified on inventory with special discounts
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About the Seller
Second Story Books, ABAA
Biblio member since 2010
Rockville, Maryland
About Second Story Books, ABAA
DC's Oldest Rare and Used Bookstore, Second Story Books operates two open shops in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. We have a large internet presence including this website, Amazon, and Ebay, accredited appraisals member ASA, and an in house book binder. For more information go to www.secondstorybooks.com
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- 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....
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
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