Patricia Highsmith's The Price of Salt Early Lesbian First Edition Pulp

[LGBTQ Pulp] Best known for her psychological thrillers "The Talented Mr. Ripley," author Patricia Highsmith is credited with having written the first lesbian novel with a happy ending. Highsmith, Patricia writing under the pen name "Claire Morgan." The Price of Salt. New York: Bantam Books, 1953. Early Lesbian First Edition, First Printing mass market paperback pulp. 250 pages, 4.5" x 7." Illustrated front wrapper by cover artist Barye Phillips depicts a pensive woman reclining on a settee, while another woman touches her shoulder and smokes a cigarette. A male figure lurks in the background. Caption reads, "Here is a novel, utterly sincere and honest, which deals with a subject until recently considered taboo. Now a young woman, Claire Morgan, comes along and writes of unsanctioned love from a completely new point of view." This is considered the first lesbian novel with a happy ending. Prior to this book, most lesbian pulps needed to be framed as morality tales in order to bypass censorship. The Price of Salt broke literary barriers, rising above the normal pulp sleaze of the day to paint a complex portrait of lesbian love. Highsmith herself was a lesbian and added a layer of honesty and authenticity to the lesbian pulp genre, also making her one of few women to write lesbian pulp novels, as many were written by men under pen names at the time. First published in hardcover in 1952 with the "Claire Morgan" alias, she dedicated the book to "Edna, Jordy and Jeff"-three people whom Highsmith invented. The novel was later released with Highsmith's own name under the title Carol, with a film adaptation in 2015. Small crease in front cover corner that does not affect the cover art image. Overall, brightly colored and in very good condition.