New York:: Grosset & Dunlap, [ca. 1922].. Photoplay edition.. publisher's cloth in illustrated dust jacket. . A very good copy in a chipped and worn dust jacket.. 8vo,. Illustrated with scenes from the motion picture by Warner Brothers.. This copy was apparently a gift to Mrs. C. S. Sewell from Warner Brothers, as that inscription appears on the front free endpaper. The pastedown, verso and recto of the front free endpaper, and the half-title page are covered with signatures of persons apparently involved in the production of the film. Signatures of Monte Blue, who played Kennicott, and Florence Vidor, who played Carol Milford, are not present. There is a presentation inscription from Sinclair Lewis to Sewell that is secretarial.

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: Jeffrey H. Marks Rare Books (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 46848
Title: Main Street. [Photoplay Edition]
Author: LEWIS, Sinclair
Illustrator: Illustrated with scenes from the motion picture by Warner Brothers.
Format/Binding: Publisher's cloth in illustrated dust jacket.
Book Condition: Used - A very good copy in a chipped and worn dust jacket.
Edition: Photoplay edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Place of Publication: New York:
Date Published: [ca. 1922].
Pages: 451 pp.
Size: 8vo,
Bookseller catalogs: Photoplay editions;

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Jeffrey H. Marks Rare Books

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About Jeffrey H. Marks Rare Books

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Glossary

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Recto: The page on the right side of a book, with the term Verso used to describe the page on the left side.
Jacket: Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
Cloth: "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
Verso: The page bound on the left side of a book, opposite to the recto page.