{
  "full": "\n**GEORGE DOUGLAS BROWN. THE HOUSE WITH THE GREEN SHUTTERS. 1927–1930. (ML 129)** \n\n#### 139a. First printing, trade issue (1927) \n\n[within double rules] THE HOUSE WITH THE | GREEN SHUTTERS | [rule] | BY | GEORGE DOUGLAS BROWN | [rule] | INTRODUCTION BY | GEORGE BLAKE | [rule] | [torchbearer A2] | [rule] | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK \n\nPp. [i–vi] vii–xii, 1–314 [315–316]. [1–10]16 [11]4 \n\n[i] half title; [ii] pub. note D5; [iii] title; [iv] *Copyright, 1911, by* | THOMAS SELTZER | [short double rule] | *Introduction Copyright, 1927*, *by* | THE MODERN LIBRARY, INC. | [short double rule] | *First Modern Library Edition* | *April, 1927*; [v] dedication; [vi] blank; vii–xii INTRODUCTION signed p. xii: George Blake.; 1–314 text; [315–316] blank. \n\n*Jacket A:* Uniform typographic jacket B. \n\n> Text on front:
 Almost a quarter of a century has elapsed since this unique novel by George Brown gained, owing to the critical insight of Andrew Lang, rapid fame. \n> In what manner Brown might have developed, had he lived, and to what heights he might have attained, are beyond conjecture. His book reaches out to us with singular, doomed power. The terrible conclusion gathers inevitably, though here is no purification of tragedy, no beating drums of a new era. In re-reading the novel, one notes how the author avoided the romantic temptation of making the House itself subjective; until in the last sentence—and this is true to country superstition and to physical belief—it assumes a sudden ominous existence: “They gazed with blanched faces at the House with the Green Shutters, sitting dark there and terrible beneath the radiant arch of the dawn!” \n> The editors of the Modern Library consider this novel one of the finest in the entire series. (*Spring 1927*) \n\n*Jacket B:* Uniform typographic jacket D. Text on front: “A powerful, unforgettable novel that the editors of the MODERN LIBRARY rank with the finest in the series.” (*Fall 1929*) \n\n#### 139b. First printing, presentation issue (1927) \n\nTitle as 139a. \n\nPp. [i–ii], [*2*], [iii–vi] vii–xii, 1–314 [315–316]. [1]16(1+χ1) [2–10]16 [11]4 *Note*: Inserted leaf between pp. [ii] and [iii] with text facing the title page. \n\nContents as 139a except inserted leaf: [*1*] blank; [*2*] *The Modern Library, Inc. takes pleasure in* | *presenting this edition of “The House with* | *the Green Shutters” to the delegates to the* | *American Booksellers’ Convention, and their* | *guests, at the banquet at the Hotel Commodore,* | *New York, on May 12, 1927*. \n\nOriginally published in U.S. by McClure, Phillips & Co., 1901, with the author named as George Douglas. New bibliographical edition published by Thomas Seltzer, 1924; plates acquired by A. & C. Boni, 1926. ML edition (pp. [v], 1–314) printed from Seltzer/Boni plates. Publication announced for April 1927. *WR* 28 May 1927. First printing: 8,000 copies. Discontinued 1 January 1931. \n\nIt is not known why Cerf and Klopfer published *The House with the Green Shutters* under the author’s full name rather than his better-known pseudonym George Douglas. \n\nSeltzer described *The House with the Green Shutters* as follows: “. . . this famous and extraordinary novel, from which, it is held, all modern fiction derives. It was the only long novel written by the young Scotchman before his early death. It came out in 1900, and was the first book that represented the reaction against the Victorian modes and moods” (Seltzer fall 1924 catalogue, p. 3). Cerf and Klopfer were equally enthusiastic. Cerf asked Heywood Broun to write the introduction to the ML edition, describing the work as “one of the swellest novels written in the past thirty years, and one that we hope to make twenty-five times as popular as it is, when we bring it out in the Modern Library” (Cerf to Broun, 26 October 1926). \n\nBroun agreed to write the introduction (Broun to Cerf, 31 October 1926) but failed to submit it by the deadline. The Blake introduction used in its place was originally written as an article for the British periodical *John O’London’s Weekly* (8 March 1924, pp. 809–10) and never copyrighted in the United States. Cerf took Blake’s article, probably at the last moment, revised the opening paragraph, added a reference to the ML edition, and forwarded it to the printer. The origin of the introduction was not acknowledged and Blake received no payment for its use. When Blake learned that the ML had used his work he wrote a letter of protest to *Saturday Review of Literature* (“A Writer’s Grievance,” *SRL*, 10 September 1927, p. 110). \n\nCerf and Klopfer did everything they could to popularize *The House with the Green Shutters*, including distributing a portion of the first printing at the American Booksellers’ Convention in May 1927, but it failed to attract a wide audience. The first Modern Library printing of 8,000 copies was larger than average. Cerf and Klopfer ordered a second printing of 1,000 copies in April 1930, apparently still hoping that it might catch on, then admitted defeat and discontinued the book at the end of the year. \n\n",
  "id": "139",
  "year": "1927",
  "label": "GEORGE DOUGLAS BROWN. THE HOUSE WITH THE GREEN SHUTTERS. 1927–1930. (ML 129)",
  "author": "GEORGE DOUGLAS BROWN",
  "title": "THE HOUSE WITH THE GREEN SHUTTERS.",
  "date": "1927–1930.",
  "something": "ML 129",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "id": "139a",
      "title": "First printing, trade issue (1927) ",
      "full": "\n\n[within double rules] THE HOUSE WITH THE | GREEN SHUTTERS | [rule] | BY | GEORGE DOUGLAS BROWN | [rule] | INTRODUCTION BY | GEORGE BLAKE | [rule] | [torchbearer A2] | [rule] | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK \n\nPp. [i–vi] vii–xii, 1–314 [315–316]. [1–10]16 [11]4 \n\n[i] half title; [ii] pub. note D5; [iii] title; [iv] *Copyright, 1911, by* | THOMAS SELTZER | [short double rule] | *Introduction Copyright, 1927*, *by* | THE MODERN LIBRARY, INC. | [short double rule] | *First Modern Library Edition* | *April, 1927*; [v] dedication; [vi] blank; vii–xii INTRODUCTION signed p. xii: George Blake.; 1–314 text; [315–316] blank. \n\n*Jacket A:* Uniform typographic jacket B. \n\n> Text on front:
 Almost a quarter of a century has elapsed since this unique novel by George Brown gained, owing to the critical insight of Andrew Lang, rapid fame. \n> In what manner Brown might have developed, had he lived, and to what heights he might have attained, are beyond conjecture. His book reaches out to us with singular, doomed power. The terrible conclusion gathers inevitably, though here is no purification of tragedy, no beating drums of a new era. In re-reading the novel, one notes how the author avoided the romantic temptation of making the House itself subjective; until in the last sentence—and this is true to country superstition and to physical belief—it assumes a sudden ominous existence: “They gazed with blanched faces at the House with the Green Shutters, sitting dark there and terrible beneath the radiant arch of the dawn!” \n> The editors of the Modern Library consider this novel one of the finest in the entire series. (*Spring 1927*) \n\n*Jacket B:* Uniform typographic jacket D. Text on front: “A powerful, unforgettable novel that the editors of the MODERN LIBRARY rank with the finest in the series.” (*Fall 1929*) \n\n"
    },
    {
      "id": "139b",
      "title": "First printing, presentation issue (1927) ",
      "full": "\n\nTitle as 139a. \n\nPp. [i–ii], [*2*], [iii–vi] vii–xii, 1–314 [315–316]. [1]16(1+χ1) [2–10]16 [11]4 *Note*: Inserted leaf between pp. [ii] and [iii] with text facing the title page. \n\nContents as 139a except inserted leaf: [*1*] blank; [*2*] *The Modern Library, Inc. takes pleasure in* | *presenting this edition of “The House with* | *the Green Shutters” to the delegates to the* | *American Booksellers’ Convention, and their* | *guests, at the banquet at the Hotel Commodore,* | *New York, on May 12, 1927*. \n\nOriginally published in U.S. by McClure, Phillips & Co., 1901, with the author named as George Douglas. New bibliographical edition published by Thomas Seltzer, 1924; plates acquired by A. & C. Boni, 1926. ML edition (pp. [v], 1–314) printed from Seltzer/Boni plates. Publication announced for April 1927. *WR* 28 May 1927. First printing: 8,000 copies. Discontinued 1 January 1931. \n\nIt is not known why Cerf and Klopfer published *The House with the Green Shutters* under the author’s full name rather than his better-known pseudonym George Douglas. \n\nSeltzer described *The House with the Green Shutters* as follows: “. . . this famous and extraordinary novel, from which, it is held, all modern fiction derives. It was the only long novel written by the young Scotchman before his early death. It came out in 1900, and was the first book that represented the reaction against the Victorian modes and moods” (Seltzer fall 1924 catalogue, p. 3). Cerf and Klopfer were equally enthusiastic. Cerf asked Heywood Broun to write the introduction to the ML edition, describing the work as “one of the swellest novels written in the past thirty years, and one that we hope to make twenty-five times as popular as it is, when we bring it out in the Modern Library” (Cerf to Broun, 26 October 1926). \n\nBroun agreed to write the introduction (Broun to Cerf, 31 October 1926) but failed to submit it by the deadline. The Blake introduction used in its place was originally written as an article for the British periodical *John O’London’s Weekly* (8 March 1924, pp. 809–10) and never copyrighted in the United States. Cerf took Blake’s article, probably at the last moment, revised the opening paragraph, added a reference to the ML edition, and forwarded it to the printer. The origin of the introduction was not acknowledged and Blake received no payment for its use. When Blake learned that the ML had used his work he wrote a letter of protest to *Saturday Review of Literature* (“A Writer’s Grievance,” *SRL*, 10 September 1927, p. 110). \n\nCerf and Klopfer did everything they could to popularize *The House with the Green Shutters*, including distributing a portion of the first printing at the American Booksellers’ Convention in May 1927, but it failed to attract a wide audience. The first Modern Library printing of 8,000 copies was larger than average. Cerf and Klopfer ordered a second printing of 1,000 copies in April 1930, apparently still hoping that it might catch on, then admitted defeat and discontinued the book at the end of the year. \n\n"
    }
  ],
  "type": "book"
}