Sister Carrie
by Dreiser, Theodore
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Bordentown, New Jersey, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
NY: B.W. Dodge, 1907. Hardcover. The first printing of the second edition of this book; the very rare first edition of 1900 was surpressed due to its subject matter (a small town 18 year old moves to Chicago and becomes a kept woman) and it is estimated that only some 600 copies were released. This edition, the first edition to be sold in the U.S. and the first with an illustration, is bound in red buckram with front cover lettered and edged in orange, spine lettered in gilt and with gilt design of a broken bowl lower corner of the front cloth. Color frontispiece. A tight copy, with all gilt bright, a nearly imperceptible slit along the lower portion of the front gutter. On the first blank leaf there is a gift inscription dated 1912 from a pastor to a young woman upon her high school graduation and opposite this (on the verso of the front fly) there is a further notation by the recipient regarding the pastor and the date. The very rare first edition of 1900 was surpressed due to its subject matter (a small town 18 year old moves to Chicago and becomes a kept woman and later an actress). Only 1008 copies were printed after Dreiser insisted that Doubleday, McClure honor their contract to publish despite internal objections to it but they refused to advertise it and only 485 copies were sold. A totally unexpurgated editioin did not appear until 1981.
Synopsis
Journalist-turned-author Theodore Dreiser’s novel Sister Carrie, which some consider to be the “greatest of all American urban novels,” is the quintessential country-mouse-in-the-city story, only more… risqué. The novel tells the story of Caroline “Sister Carrie” Meeber, a young girl from rural Wisconsin who moves to Chicago with hopes of becoming a star. Carrie first stays with her older sister and her husband, but she soon becomes involved with a married man and a series of other morally questionable decisions follow. While Carrie may sound obviously blinded by her dreams of a glamorous future — and some may argue that’s because she is — Dreiser chose to present her character and others with a focus on human instinct as opposed to judgment, making it an early work of the naturalist movement. As one might expect, Dreiser had a difficult time finding and securing a publisher for Sister Carrie. After the manuscript had already been rejected twice, Doubleday, Page’s Frank Norris, author of the naturalistic novel McTeague, offered Dreiser a contract for the publication. This resulted in some upset within the publishing house — primarily due to book’s “lack of morality” — and Doubleday, Page tried to back out of the deal. Dreiser demanded that the contract be fulfilled and Doubleday published 1,008 copies in November 1900. However, the novel was perhaps not as thoroughly publicized as it could have been. Just 465 copies actually sold (not including the 129 that were sent out for reviews). The remaining 423 copies were later turned over to a remainder house. Unsurprisingly, Sister Carrie received negative response shortly after publication. Beyond the novel’s general sexual content and overall pessimistic tone, critics of the time took issue with the idea of Carrie engaging in illicit sexual relationships without suffering any consequences. Also unsurprisingly, Sister Carrie is another example of a masterpiece that could only be appreciated with time. In his 1930 Nobel Prize lecture, Sinclair Lewis compared the impact of Dreiser’s Sister Carrie to the work of Mark Twain and Walt Whitman. Carrie, a film adaptation directed by William Wyler and starring Laurence Olivier and Jennifer Jones, premiered in 1952. Sister Carrie is ranked 33rd on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century.
Read More: Identifying first editions of Sister Carrie
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Details
- Bookseller
- The Old Book Shop of Bordentown (ABNJ)
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- E1737
- Title
- Sister Carrie
- Author
- Dreiser, Theodore
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Publisher
- B.W. Dodge
- Place of Publication
- NY
- Date Published
- 1907
- Keywords
- Literature, Prostitutes, Surpressed Books
Terms of Sale
The Old Book Shop of Bordentown (ABNJ)
TRACKING AND INSURANCE AT OPTION OF BUYER. ON UNINSURED ITEMS, OUR RESPONSIBILITY ENDS WITH PROOF OF SHIPPING---NO EXCEPTIONS! Books are returnable if misdescribed; we must be notified within 48 hours of receipt if making a return. We conform to accepted ABAA grading. "First edition" means "first printing" unless noted; if it doesn't say it has a jacket then it doesn't; faults such as ownership signatures, price clipping, etc. will be noted in the listing. Member ABAA, ILAB, ABNJ.
About the Seller
The Old Book Shop of Bordentown (ABNJ)
Biblio member since 2005
Bordentown, New Jersey
About The Old Book Shop of Bordentown (ABNJ)
The Old Book Shop of Bordentown is a general used/rare bookshop open to the public Tues.-Sunday 11AM to 5PM (8 PM on Fridays). 10,000 books on premises with another 25,000 in stock. Areas of speciality include baseball, New Jersey, American literature, mysteries. Member, ABAA, ILAB,Antiquarian Booksellers of New Jersey. Located in historic Bordentown City, New Jeresy (est. 1682).
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- 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...
- Gutter
- The inside margin of a book, connecting the pages to the joints near the binding.
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- 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....
- Buckram
- A plain weave fabric normally made from cotton or linen which is stiffened with starch or other chemicals to cover the book...
- Verso
- The page bound on the left side of a book, opposite to the recto page.
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