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Tropic of Capricorn
by Miller, Henry
- Used
- near fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Near fine
- Seller
-
Century City, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Paris: The Obelisk Press, 1939. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. 1st edition (in English despite the Paris imprint). 1st issue, but the price has been scratched out on front flap and spine, though a part of the ‘0' is legible on the front flap, so it was not stamped over and there is no ‘175.00' printed on the rear wrapper. Despite this, we will pretend it's a 2nd issue and price it that way. Extremities of the wrapper are a bit pushed from being larger than the page block, otherwise fine and bright in the original wrappers, with errata sheet tipped in before title page. Custom cloth clamshell box. Miller's semi-autobiographical prequel to Tropic of Cancer (there were actually 3 other books in-between the 2), set in New York in 1920, where the central character (Henry V.Miller) works for the Cosmodemonic Telegraph Company, paralleling Western Union where the real Miller actually worked. But (other than some of the scenes with his first wife) this is the closest of the book's analogies, and Tropic of Capricorn is rightly considered fiction.
Synopsis
Like his previous work, Tropic of Cancer , Henry Miller's Tropic of Capricorn stayed banned in the U.S. until 1961. Written with a similar style and theme, the book details and to some extent parodies Miller's experiences working for Western Union, referring to the company throughout the book as the “Cosmodemonic Telegraph Company.” In Capricorn , Miller expounded on his travails as a struggling writer in New York in the 1920s, and with his troubled marriage. The book was published by Obelisk Press in Paris in 1939. The first U.S. Edition was printed by Grove Press in 1961, and signed copies of this book are also sought after, due to the lawsuit and controversy surrounding its publication. The trilogy itself represents a significant challenge to traditional literary forms, and Miller's appeal to counter-culture continues to attract new collectors. The final book in Miller's Obelisk Trilogy , it was followed by Black Spring in 1938, a collection of shorter stories related to the series, and Tropic of Capricorn in 1939, another stream-of-consciousness account of the author's struggles in New York in the 1920s. Flaws in the first Paris edition (printed in English) commonly include a damaged or missing spine. Wear to the cover and boards, and chips and unevenness to the page edges are also common. Signed copies of this work in good condition are often sold for over $1,000. The first U.S. Edition is of higher quality, and features gilt lettering on the title pages, and marbled paper boards. Less commonly seen errors for this edition include soiling and damage to the edges, folded corners of pages, and slight loosening of the boards and binding.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Biblioctopus
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 952
- Title
- Tropic of Capricorn
- Author
- Miller, Henry
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Near fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- Publisher
- The Obelisk Press
- Place of Publication
- Paris
- Date Published
- 1939
- Keywords
- 1/24 NEW
Terms of Sale
Biblioctopus
*Every item is guaranteed to be genuine, as described, and way cool, regardless of vintage, but all manuscripts fashioned by the living are particularly burdened with, and isolated by, specific and uneditable disclaimers of warranty.
*Everything is deemed to be sold on approval, and may be returned, with notice, within 8 days, for any reason, or no reason, for a full refund. Everything continues to be the lawful property of Biblioctopus until it is wholly paid.
About the Seller
Biblioctopus
Biblio member since 2017
Century City, California
About Biblioctopus
Biblioctopus sells first editions of the classics of fiction, high spots in history, science, and historical ephemera
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Tipped In
- Tipped In is used to describe something which has been glued into a book. Tipped-in items can include photos, book plates,...
- Errata
- Errata: aka Errata Slip A piece of paper either laid in to the book correcting errors found in the printed text after being...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- 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....
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Wrappers
- The paper covering on the outside of a paperback. Also see the entry for pictorial wraps, color illustrated coverings for...
- 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...
- Clamshell Box
- A protective box designed for storing and preserving a bound book or loose sheets. A clamshell box is hinged on one side, with...
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