MODERN LIBRARY SERIES 1930

1930

General

The Modern Library’s purchase of the Sun Dial Library from Garden City Publishing Co., the Doubleday, Doran subsidiary that specialized in hard-cover reprints, was announced on 4 April. The Sun Dial Library had been in existence since 1923 and was a reprint series of modern literary works similar in format and scope to the Modern Library. In 1930 it included fifty-three titles that sold for one dollar a copy. The Sun Dial Library had never been a strong rival, but it was the only American series that competed with the Modern Library to any extent and Cerf regarded it as potentially dangerous (Cerf to James L. Crowder, 2 April 1930).

The purchase of the Sun Dial Library gave the Modern Library access to a number of titles that Cerf and Klopfer had tried to secure from Doubleday in the past. The series included major works by Joseph Conrad, Aldous Huxley, W. Somerset Maugham, William McFee, and Christopher Morley, all of whom were Doubleday authors. Other desirable titles in the series included Katherine Mansfield’s Garden Party, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and H. G. Wells’s Tono-Bungay.

As part of the agreement the Modern Library secured reprint rights to four Doubleday titles—Arnold Bennett’s Old Wives’ Tale, Aldous Huxley’s Point Counter Point, W. Somerset Maugham’s Of Human Bondage, and Horace Walpole’s Fortitude—that were not part of the Sun Dial Library. Cerf and Klopfer had been trying to secure reprint rights to these titles for several years. The Modern Library agreed to pay Doubleday, Doran royalties of 12 cents a copy for these four titles—two cents more than Cerf and Klopfer were then paying for any other book in the ML with the exception of Dreiser’s Twelve Men (159). The four titles were added to the Modern Library between September 1930 and January 1931.

Eleven of the 53 titles in the Sun Dial Library were added to the ML between 1931 and 1937: Conrad, Lord Jim (210); Mansfield, The Garden Party (214); Morley, Parnassus on Wheels (213); McFee, Casuals of the Sea (223); Wells, Tono-Bungay (225); Stoker, Dracula (231); Conrad, Victory (238); Dos Passos, Three Soldiers (248); Huxley, Antic Hay (233); Maugham, Moon and Sixpence (283); and Collins, The Moonstone (G31). All of these except The Moonstone appear to have been protected by copyright and could not have been included in the ML without the permission of Doubleday, Doran.

The purchase of the Sun Dial Library was a straight cash transaction. The Modern Library acquired the entire stock of Sun Dial Library books, about 87,000 volumes, and got the right for five years to add any title from the series for which Doubleday, Doran controlled the copyright. No plates were involved since Garden City Publishing Co., like other reprint publishers, printed from the original publishers’ plates. The total cost was just under $25,000. This represented the exact manufacturing cost of each volume, a royalty of ten cents a copy, and an additional payment of $5,000.

The books were transferred to the Modern Library’s warehouse at the Wolff Bindery in New York. Cerf estimated that no more than half of the books could be sold at full price. Cerf and Klopfer hoped at first to sell enough books at the regular price to enable them to remainder the rest at the end of the year and still break even (Cerf to Crowder, 10 April 1930). Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, the big New York department stores, placed orders for one thousand copies each and disposed of them at sale prices of about 69 cents a copy. By June the stock was down to 60,000 copies. At that time Klopfer indicated that they had abandoned the idea of remaindering the books (Klopfer to G. E. Rogers, Macmillan Co. of Canada, 3 June 1930). By early 1931 Sun Dial Library books were being offered at discounts ranging from 42 percent on fifty copies to 55 percent on a thousand or more. Salesmen were urged to try to get one big account in each city to take a large selection at these discounts, but Cerf asked them not to press booksellers too hard (Cerf to Carl J. Smalley, 15 January 1931 and 11 June 1931).

Other ways were found to dispose of the weakest titles. Many of them were bartered for Modern Library advertising in college newspapers, and several booksellers agreed to accept Sun Dial Library books as the Modern Library’s contribution toward cooperative advertising. By September 1933 the Sun Dial Library stock was almost gone.

Cerf commented to the ML’s senior sales representative, “Considering the general depression, our Modern Library sales seem to be holding up wonderfully. The new picture jackets help, and the Fall additions should cause general satisfaction, I believe” (Cerf to Crowder, 11 July 1930).

The ML ordered new typesettings and plates for three of its most popular titles: Maugham, Of Human Bondage (199), Bennett, Old Wives Tale (207), and Stoker, Dracula (231).

Ernest Hemingway paid tribute to the ML’s format in December 1930. He had shattered his arm in a serious car accident in early November and was recuperating in Key West after spending seven weeks in a Billings, Montana hospital. In a letter to Cerf typed by his wife Pauline he gratefully described Modern Library books as “the proper size for one-handed reading” (Hemingway to Cerf, 26 December 1930).

Number of titles

Nineteen titles were added and four were discontinued, bringing the number of active titles to 182. Minor discrepancies between the number of titles indicated here and on the back panels of ML jackets are due primarily to the ML’s practice of including titles projected for January publication on fall lists. Fall 1930 jackets also list Merejkowski, Peter and Alexis (227), which was originally announced for August 1930 but was delayed until December 1931.

Format

All new titles were published in the standard format with the binding measuring 6⅝ x 4⅜ in. (168 x 110 mm) and the leaves trimmed to 6½ x 4¼ in. (164 x 107 mm).

The ML’s standard format was enlarged in 1939. The new binding measured 7¼ x 4⅞ in. (182 x 123 mm) with a trim size of 7 x 4¾ in. (177 x 120 mm). In 1969 a taller, slightly slimmer format was introduced with the binding measuring 7½ x 4¾ in. (190 x 120 mm) and a trim size of 7¼ x 4½ in. (182 x 115 mm). Most books through 1954 were printed with 16 pages on each side of the sheet and bound in gatherings of 16 leaves (32 pages); by 1956 most books were being printed with 32 pages on each side of the sheet and bound in gatherings of 32 leaves (64 pages).

Title page

Except for Rockwell Kent’s Wilderness (205) all new titles had the final version of Elmer Adler’s title page with the title in open-face type and torchbearer A2, A3, or C1 (see individual entries). Wilderness had an individually designed title page featuring an illustration by Kent; torchbearer B appears on the verso of the title page.

Binding

Balloon cloth bindings continued to be available in four colors: red, blue, green, and brown, with each title published in all four bindings. See the illustration of Huysmans, Against the Grain, which shows four copies of the fall 1930 first printing, each in a binding of a different color.

Rockwell Kent’s B1 binding with the grape vine design at the base of the spine and his torchbearer stamped in gold on the front panel was used in its full form through spring 1930. The additional gold required for the B1 binding increased the ML’s costs by half a cent per volume, and the binding was discontinued after a single season.

The balloon cloth B2 binding was used for the first seven titles published in fall 1930. The B2 binding is identical to B1 except for the torchbearer, which is blind stamped on the front panel. Titles published initially in the B2 binding are Cervantes, Don Quixote (197), Mencken, Selected Prejudices (198), Maugham, Of Human Bondage (199), Goethe, Faust (200), Walpole, Fortitude (201), Young, The Medici (202), and Huxley, Point Counter Point (203).

Balloon cloth binding C replaced Kent’s original design for the last three titles published in 1930: Plato, Works (204), Kent, Wilderness (205), and Huysmans, Against the Grain (206). Kent’s grape vine design is omitted from the spine, but his torchbearer, reduced in size from 36 to 27 mm, is again stamped in gold on the front panel. Balloon cloth binding C was used through April 1931 and was superseded by balloon cloth binding D in May 1931.

Early in 1930 Klopfer asked H. Wolff, the ML’s bindery, to look into the potential savings of using imitation gold (“oriental tissue”) instead of genuine gold on the bindings, noting that it would have to save at least a penny per book to make the change worthwhile (Klopfer to Bert Wolff, 23 January 1930). Wolff indicated that imitation gold would save .003 per copy or $3.00 per thousand—a savings of $1,500–1,800 a year (Wolff to Klopfer, 20 January 1930). As a test Klopfer asked that the ML’s May title, Oriental Romances (196), be stamped in imitation gold. Wolff mistakenly used imitation gold on the ML’s entire current binding order of 118,404 volumes instead of genuine gold as specified in the contract (RH Box 766, Wolff folder). Balloon cloth binding B2 with the torchbearer blind stamped on the front panel appears to have been the solution to the problem.

Library Edition

Twenty-five ML titles were offered in special bindings for the library market. The flexible balloon cloth bindings used for volumes sold in stores did not withstand repeated readings and thus were not well suited to library use. Volumes in the “Library Edition” were bound in sturdy blue buckram over stiff boards with headbands at the head and foot of the spine. Unlike the balloon cloth bindings in the regular ML, the bindings were reinforced with mull, also known as crash—a strip of sturdy starched fabric that was glued over the folded gatherings at the spine, with flaps extending about half an inch on each side that were glued to the inside of the front and back boards. The titles were:

American Poetry 1671–1928: A Comprehensive Anthology, ed. Aiken (169.1)
Beebe, Jungle Peace (116)
Best Ghost Stories (67)
Best Russian Short Stories, ed. Seltzer (18)
Brontë, Wuthering Heights (120)
Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass, The Hunting of the Snark (111)
Cellini, Autobiography (132)
Dostoyevsky, Brothers Karamazov (171)
Douglas, South Wind (114)
Fourteen Great Detective Stories, ed. Starrett (155)
France, Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard (21)
Hardy, Return of the Native (126)
Hudson, Green Mansions (90)
Ibsen, A Doll’s House, Ghosts, An Enemy of the People (6)
Lewisohn, Up Stream (128)
Melville, Moby Dick (124)
Meredith, Diana of the Crossways (14)
Meredith, Ordeal of Richard Feverel (144)
Merejkowski, Romance of Leonardo da Vinci (154)
Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra (9)
Schreiner, Story of an African Farm (142)
Sterne, Tristram Shandy (158)
Symonds, Life of Michelangelo Buonarroti (164)
Wilde, Picture of Dorian Gray (1)
Wilde, Salomé, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Windermere’s Fan (76)

Fifteen of the titles were ones that Cerf and Klopfer added between fall 1925 and 1928; ten had originally appeared in the Boni & Liveright series. The attempt to market ML books to libraries was not a success, probably because the small size of the volumes and the narrow margins did not allow for rebinding.

Buckram bindings for the library market were again made available for many ML titles in the 1960s, more than twenty years after the ML introduced its larger format. This time the optional buckram bindings appear to have been successful.

Endpaper

Rockwell Kent endpapers used in spring 1930 were available in three different colors and were color coordinated with the balloon cloth bindings. Blue and green bindings continued to be paired with pale green (149) endpapers; brown bindings examined had light reddish brown (42) endpapers; and red bindings had endpapers in light orange (52).

Beginning in fall 1930 all Kent endpapers were in moderate orange (53). Moderate orange endpapers were used with all balloon cloth bindings from fall 1930 through spring 1939, except for the oversize volume, John Reed, Ten Days That Shook the World (1935: 280) and three spring 1939 titles—Irving Stone, Lust for Life (317), Isak Dinesen, Seven Gothic Tales (320), and Six Plays of Clifford Odets (321) that were published in the larger format that the ML would adopt for all titles beginning that fall. An enlarged version of Kent’s endpaper was introduced in spring 1940. The central panels featuring Kent’s torchbearer were unchanged, but the surrounding patterns of open books and “ml” initials were extended to fill the larger space.

Jackets

Ten of the 1930 titles were published in individually designed pictorial jackets. Seven appeared in uniform typographic jacket D. Maugham, Of Human Bondage (199) was published in uniform typographic jacket E; Huxley, Point Counter Point (203) had a non-pictorial jacket designed by E. McKnight Kauffer.

Price

95 cents.

Dating keys

(Spring) Hemingway, Sun Also Rises xGoethe, Faust. (Fall) Goethe, Faust xConrad, Lord Jim.

Titles sought, suggested, declined

Cerf wanted to include John Galsworthy’s Forsyte Saga in the Modern Library but realized that Scribner’s was unlikely to grant reprint rights. He wrote Maxwell Perkins in 1930, “I eagerly await hearing of Mr. Scribner’s reaction to my suggestion for the Forsyte Saga. I hope that I did not move him to physical violence. I am convinced the idea is not as ridiculous as it very likely appears at first blush” (Cerf to Perkins, 4 December 1930). Perkins replied that there was no possibility of granting reprint rights (Perkins to Cerf, 4 December 1930). Nine years later Cerf offered an advance of $7,500 to publish The Forsyte Saga as a Giant (Cerf to Perkins, 26 September 1939). Galsworthy’s sequence of three novels and two interludes never appeared in the ML.

Cerf contacted John W. Luce & Co. about rights to a John Millington Synge anthology (Cerf to Mr. Schaff, 23 June 1930). Cerf contacted Longman’s for the rights to H. Rider Haggard’s She, J. C. Van Dyke’s History of Painting, and G. F. Young’s history from 44 B.C. to 1453 A.D., East and West through Fifteen Centuries (Cerf to J. Ray Beck, 25 September 1930). The only one of these titles that was ever added to the ML was She—and that was over 25 years later, when Haggard’s She & King Solomon’s Mines (492) appeared in the ML in 1957.

James Crowder, the ML’s sales representative for the Middle West, suggested Goethe’s Faust and The Sayings of Confucius (Crowder to Cerf, 12 April 1930 and 30 September 1930). Faust (200) was published in the ML that fall. The Wisdom of Confucius (312) appeared in the ML in 1938 and became one of the ML’s perennial best-selling titles. V. F. Calverton, who edited An Anthology of American Negro Literature (183) for the ML in 1929, offered to edit Tales of E. T. A. Hoffman for the series; Cerf indicated that the book was a possibility in the future (Cerf to Calverton, 10 December 1930).

The ML decided not to publish Guillaume Apollinaire’s La Rome des Borgia after a reader’s report judged it pornographic and valueless as history. The reader commented, “The whole simply stinks of obscenity and abnormality” (“Ray” to Klopfer, 18 February 1930).

Ferris Greenslet urged Cerf to publish a ML edition of Alain-Fournier’s novel The Wanderer (Le Grand Meaulnes), which was originally published in Paris in 1913 and appeared in an English translation published by Houghton Mifflin in 1928, fourteen years after the young author’s death in action in the First World War. “I hope very much that you are going to feel like doing something about THE WANDERER, both because we would like the business and because I personally have a profound interest in extending the reputation of Alain Fournier” (Greenslet to Cerf, 5 September 1930). Cerf appears to have been skeptical about its sales potential. Roger L. Scaife, who would move from Houghton Mifflin to Little, Brown & Co. a short time later, replied to Cerf: “You may be right about THE WANDERER. The story took hold of us here so strongly that we thought it a gem that should be preserved and sold year after year. Whether that is possible or not, I do not know. Your judgment is understandably better than mine in this case” (Scaife to Cerf, 6 October 1930). A new English translation by Frank Davison was published in 1959 under the title The Lost Domain by Oxford University Press in its World’s Classics series and reprinted in Penguin Modern Classics as Le Grand Meaulnes in 1966. A third English translation by Robin Buss appeared in Penguin Classics in 2007 under the title The Lost Estate.

The Marxist poet and novelist Isidor Schneider, who was in charge of advertising at Horace Liveright, Inc., and whose wife, Helen Berlin, had been Cerf and Klopfer’s first secretary, recommended Ivan Goncharov’s Oblomov for the ML. The Natalie Duddington translation, published by Macmillan the previous year, was the first complete translation in English. Schneider, who later served as literary editor of the New Masses, considered Oblomov one of the world’s ten best novels (Schneider to Cerf, 1 April 1930; Schneider Special Manuscript Collection, Columbia University Library). The Duddington translation was published in Everyman’s Library in 1932, but Oblomov was never added in the ML.

New titles

Overton, ed., Great Modern Short Stories (1930) 188
James, Turn of the Screw; The Lesson of the Master (1930) 189
Hemingway, Sun Also Rises (1930) 190
Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (1930) 191
Huneker, Painted Veils (1930) 192
Tchekov, Plays of Anton Tchekov (1930) 193
Proust, Within a Budding Grove (1930) 194
Dewey, Human Nature and Conduct (1930) 195
Komroff, ed., Oriental Romances (1930) 196
Cervantes, Don Quixote (1930) 197
Mencken, Selected Prejudices (1930) 198
Maugham, Of Human Bondage (1930) 199
Goethe, Faust (1930) 200
Walpole, Fortitude (1930) 201
Young, Medici (1930) 202
Huxley, Point Counter Point (1930) 203
Plato, Works of Plato (1930) 204
Kent, Wilderness (1930) 205
Huysmans, Against the Grain (1930) 206

Discontinued

Dunsany, Book of Wonder (1918) 42
Evolution in Modern Thought (1918) 35
Fabre, Life of the Caterpillar (1925) 115
Wilson, Selected Addresses and Public Papers (1918) 63

Spring

188

GRANT OVERTON, ed. GREAT MODERN SHORT STORIES. 1930–1943. (ML 168)

188a. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] GREAT MODERN | SHORT STORIES | [rule] | EDITED BY | GRANT OVERTON | [rule] | [torchbearer A2] | [rule] | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [i–vi] vii–ix [x], [1–2] 3–371 [372–374]. [1–12]¹⁶

[i] half title; [ii] pub. note D5; [iii] title; [iv] Copyright, 1930, by THE MODERN LIBRARY, INC. | [short double rule] | First Modern Library Edition | 1930 | [short double rule]; [v] CONTENTS; [vi] blank; vii–ix FOREWORD signed p. ix: Grant Overton; [x] blank; [1] part title: HEART OF DARKNESS | JOSEPH CONRAD; [2] Copyright, 1903, by Doubleday, Page & Co.; 3–371 text; [372–374] blank. Note: The First statement is not completely removed from the second printing; lines 4–5 are deleted from p. [iv] but line 3 is retained. Line 3 is deleted in later printings.

Contents: Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad – The Three-Day Blow, by Ernest Hemingway – The Apple-Tree, by John Galsworthy – Paul’s Case, by Willa Cather – I’m a Fool, by Sherwood Anderson – The Prussian Officer, by D. H. Lawrence – Miss Brill, by Katherine Mansfield – The Runaways, by Glenway Wescott – At Your Age, by F. Scott Fitzgerald – Counterparts, by James Joyce – The Letter, by W. Somerset Maugham.

Jacket A: Uniform typographic jacket D. (Fall 1929)

Jacket B: Pictorial in vivid red (11) and black on cream paper with inset panel in vivid red divided diagonally into four parts depicting a country village, skyscrapers, a sailing ship, and industrial smokestacks; borders in vivid red, lettering in black.

Front flap:
Controversies over the merits of favorite short stories are endless. Everyone is staunch in his own preferences and can argue at length in their behalf. The tales collected in this volume support no theory, nor do they follow a pattern intended to emphasize a special set of virtues; they are catholic in choice and represent the most notable works in the short-story form of such masters as Joseph Conrad, John Galsworthy, Somerset Maugham, Katherine Mansfield, D. H. Lawrence, Ernest Hemingway, Willa Cather, James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson and Glenway Westcott. (Spring 1934)

Original ML anthology. Published January 1930. WR 8 February 1930. First printing: Not ascertained. Discontinued spring 1943. Superseded 1943 by Great Modern Short Stories, ed. Bennett Cerf (361).

Most of the stories were selected by Cerf and Klopfer rather than Overton (see 361). Even so, Cerf thought that the anthology contained “glaring defects” and acknowledged, “Copyright difficulties . . . prevented our putting into this volume exactly what we would have liked to include” (Cerf to A. E. Coppard, 6 September 1934).

Overton’s anthology and its successor sold 12,699 copies during the 18-month period May 1942–October 1943, placing it fourteenth out of 271 ML and Giant titles.

188b. Title page reset (1940)

[torchbearer D5] | [6-line title and statement of responsibility within single rules] GREAT | MODERN | SHORT | STORIES | EDITED BY | GRANT OVERTON | [below frame] THE MODERN LIBRARY

Pagination and collation as 188a.

Contents as 188a except: [ii] blank; [iv] COPYRIGHT, 1930, BY THE MODERN LIBRARY, INC.

Jacket C: Non-pictorial in deep blue (179), pale yellow (89) and gold on coated white paper with lettering in reverse on inset deep blue panel and three deep blue bands at foot, all surrounded by pale yellow background with decorations in gold and yellow. Designed by Paul Galdone, March 1940; unsigned. Note: The jacket design in different color combinations was also used for Five Great Modern Irish Plays (1941: 339), Collected Short Stories of Ring Lardner (1941: 344), Collected Stories of Dorothy Parker (1942: 353), and four existing ML anthologies: Best Ghost Stories (1919: 67b), Best American Humorous Short Stories (1920: 80f), Great Modern Short Stories (1930: 188b), and Great German Short Novels and Stories (1933: 256b) when they appeared in the ML’s larger format in the early 1940s.

Front flap as 188a jacket B. (Fall 1940)

Also in the Modern Library
Cerf, ed., Great Modern Short Stories (1943) 361

189

HENRY JAMES. THE TURN OF THE SCREW; THE LESSON OF THE MASTER. 1930–1971. (ML 169)

189a. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] THE TURN | OF THE SCREW | [short rule] | THE LESSON OF THE MASTER | [rule] | BY | HENRY JAMES | [rule] | INTRODUCTION BY | HEYWOOD BROUN | [rule] | [torchbearer A3] | [rule] | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [i–iv] v–ix [x], [2], 1–211 [212]. [17]¹⁶

[i] half title; [ii] pub. note D5; [iii] title; [iv] Copyright, 1891, 1898, by THE MACMILLAN CO. | [short double rule] | Introduction Copyright, 1930, by | THE MODERN LIBRARY, INC. | [short double rule] | First Modern Library Edition | 1930 | [short double rule]; v–ix INTRODUCTION signed p. ix: Heywood Broun. | New York, | January, 1930.; [x] blank; [1] part title: THE TURN OF THE SCREW; [2] blank; 1–134 text; [135] part title: THE LESSON OF THE MASTER; [136] blank; 137–211 text; [212] blank.

Jacket A: Pictorial in deep yellow green (118) and black on light grayish green paper with inset illustration of a chair by a window with gloves on the seat cushion, a vase encircled by a hand on the window ledge, and a man with outstretched hand peering through the window into the room; borders in deep yellow green, lettering in black. Signed: Wuyts. (Spring 1930)

Front flap:
For sheer terror, for the spectral power to fasten itself upon the imagination, stirring and tormenting it, The Turn of the Screw is the apotheosis of the macabre in literature. Without abatement, it arouses the senses and numbs them, clutches at the heart and makes it beat faster, while it unfolds one of the greatest ghost stories of all time. The Lesson of the Master portrays the inevitable penalties imposed on those who cherish a dream of perfection. It reveals Henry James as an incomparable story-teller and stylist. (Fall 1933)

Originally published by the Macmillan Co., 1898 (The Turn of the Screw) and 1892 (The Lesson of the Master). ML edition printed from plates made from a new typesetting. Publication announced for January 1930. WR 8 March 1930. First printing: Not ascertained. Discontinued 1971/72.

The ML’s original intent was to publish The Turn of the Screw only, to print from Macmillan plates, and to pay a $1,000 advance against royalties of 8 cents a copy (H. C. Latham, Macmillan Co., to Klopfer, 26 November 1928). Cerf asked Willard Huntington Wright (S. S. Van Dine) to write an introduction, but Wright declined (“Dine” to Cerf, 25 March 1929).

Final publication plans took shape in January 1930, when Macmillan granted permission to add The Lesson of the Master for an additional payment of $100 (Latham to ML, 10 January 1930). Broun’s introduction, dated January 1930, makes no reference to The Lesson of the Master. The ML also decided to reset both works. These changes delayed publication by a month or so. The royalty was renegotiated after both works entered the public domain. In the 1960s the ML was paying royalties of 2 cents a copy.

The Turn of the Screw; The Lesson of the Master ranked in the third quarter of ML titles in terms of sales during the 18-month period, May 1942–October 1943, just below The Portrait of a Lady (291). James’s sales improved significantly by the early 1950s. During the twelve-month period November 1951–October 1952 The Turn of the Screw; The Lesson of the Master sold 3,734 copies, making it seventy-fourth of the 100 best-selling titles in the regular ML. James’s Portrait of a Lady sold 5,345 copies, placing it thirty-ninth.

189b. Title page reset (c. 1940)

THE TURN | OF THE SCREW | [diamond ornament] | THE LESSON OF | THE MASTER | [diamond ornament] | By Henry James | Introduction by HEYWOOD BROUN | [torchbearer D4 at right; 3-line imprint at left] THE | MODERN LIBRARY | NEW YORK | [rule]

Pagination and collation as 189a.

Contents as 189a except: [ii] blank; [iv] COPYRIGHT, 1891, 1898, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY | INTRODUCTION COPYRIGHT, 1930, | BY THE MODERN LIBRARY, INC.

Variant: Pagination and collation as 189b. Contents as 189b except p. [iv] line 2: INTRODUCTION COPYRIGHT, 1930, 1957. (Spring 1960 jacket)

Jacket B: Non-pictorial in dark grayish brown (62) and black on cream paper with lettering in black on inset cream panel tilted on a diagonal axis; background in dark grayish brown with series and torchbearer in reverse below panel. Designed by Joseph Blumenthal. Front flap as 189a. (Spring 1946)

189c. Title page reset; offset printing (1967)**

The Turn | of the Screw | The Lesson of | the Master | by HENRY JAMES | Introduction by | Heywood Broun | [torchbearer J] | The Modern Library | New York

Pagination and collation as 189a. Contents as 189b except: [iv] Copyright, 1891, 1898 by the Macmillan Company | Introduction Copyright, 1930 and renewed, 1957, | by The Modern Library, Inc.

Jacket C: Non-pictorial in light olive brown (94), strong red (12) and black on coated white paper with lettering in black and strong red on inset light olive brown panel with two rules and ampersand in reverse; background in white.

Front flap:
The Turn of the Screw was first published in 1898 and has remained one of the most hauntingly ambiguous and variously interpreted works in literature.
The Lesson of the Master discloses James’ constant concern with the nature of the artist.

Both titles reveal Henry James as an incomparable storyteller and stylist.

Also in the Modern Library
James, Daisy Miller; An International Episode (1918–1934) 60
James, Portrait of a Lady (1936–1973; 1983– ) 291
James, Wings of the Dove (1946–1969) 389
James, Short Stories (Giant, 1948–1970) G75
James, Washington Square (1950–1970) 427
James, The Bostonians (1956–1970) 480

190

ERNEST HEMINGWAY. THE SUN ALSO RISES. 1930–1953. (ML 170)

190a. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] THE SUN ALSO RISES | [rule] | BY | ERNEST HEMINGWAY | [rule] | INTRODUCTION BY | HENRY SEIDEL CANBY | [rule] | [torchbearer A3] | rule | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [i–v] vi–ix [x–xii], [1–2] 3–259 [260]. [1–8]¹⁶ [9]⁸

[i] half title; [ii] pub. note D8; [iii] title; [iv] Copyright, 1926, by CHAS. SCRIBNER’S SONS | [short double rule] | First Modern Library Edition | 1930; [v]–ix INTRODUCTION signed p. ix: Henry Seidel Canby. | New York | January, 1930; [x] blank; [xi] dedication; [xii] epigraphs from Gertrude Stein and Ecclesiastes; [1] part title: THE SUN ALSO RISES | [short rule] | BOOK I; [2] blank; 3–259 text; [260] blank.

Jacket A: Pictorial in deep reddish orange (36) and black on cream paper with inset illustration of a woman with a glass of wine in the foreground and a bullfighter, a man’s head, and base of the Eiffel Tower in the background; borders in deep reddish orange, lettering in black. Signed: Wuyts. (Spring 1930)

Front flap:
Instead of beginning his career as a writer of promise, Ernest Hemingway startled the world, and especially his own generation, with The Sun Also Rises, his first full-length novel. The disinherited and disillusioned survivors of the World War discovered in him their spokesman, a writer free of sentimentality and cant who could summon forth characters true to their own experience and way of life. The Sun Also Rises is a chronicle of a lost generation drifting, frustrated and demoralized, to its doom. (Spring 1939)

Originally published by Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1926. ML edition (pp. [xi]–259) printed from Scribner plates. Published February 1930. WR 8 March 1930. First printing: 15,000 copies. Discontinued 1953.

The ML paid Scribner’s a $6,000 advance against royalties of 12 cents a copy. Cerf had approached Scribner’s about a ML edition as early as 1927, when he offered a $1,200 advance against royalties of 12 cents a copy (Cerf to Scribner’s, 17 September 1927). After meeting Cerf in New York Hemingway urged Scribner’s to let the ML have the book. He was pleased that The Sun Also Rises was to appear in the series. But he declined Cerf’s offer of $200 to write an introduction—four times what F. Scott Fitzgerald received in 1934 for his introduction to the ML edition of The Great Gatsby—explaining that he couldn’t write an introduction to any book, least of all to one of his own. “I feel to write it would be taking $200 out of some critics [sic] pocket—but beside that I swear to you I couldn’t write it if I tried” (Hemingway to Cerf, 4 January 1930).

Printings through 1934 were as follows: 5,000 copies (November 1930), 5,000 copies (October 1931), 3,000 copies (July 1933), 2,000 copies (December 1934). The Sun Also Rises was the eighteenth best-selling ML title during the first six months of 1931 (RH box 117, Publicity file). It sold 7,054 copies during the 18-month period May 1942–October 1943, placing it the second quarter of ML and Giant titles in terms of sales. It sold 5,678 copies during the twelve-month period November 1951–October 1952, making it thirty-third out of the 100 best-selling titles in the regular ML.

Curiously, the 1949 Bantam paperback edition of The Sun Also Rises, despite the claim on the front cover that the text is “Complete and Unabridged,’ omits more than twenty references to Robert Cohn being Jewish. The first paragraph of Chapter 1 retains the passage that he learned boxing “to counteract the feeling of inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princeton” (p. 1) but alters the third paragraph from “Robert Cohn was a member, through his father, of one of the richest Jewish families in New York . . .” to “one of the richest families in New York” (p. 2). Another example comes from Chapter XVIII, where the Scribner/Modern Library text reads “Brett’s got a bull-fighter,” he said. “She had a Jew named Cohn, but he turned out badly” (p. 214). The 1949 Bantam edition reads: “Brett’s got a bull-fighter,” Mike said. “A beautiful, bloody bull fighter” (p. 176).

Scribner’s decided in the early 1950s to promote its backlist more vigorously and terminated the ML’s reprint contracts for all three Hemingway titles in the series (Whitney Darrow, Scribner’s, to Cerf, 29 October 1952). A few months later the ML reported that The Sun Also Rises would be out of stock soon (ML to Charles Burgess, Jr., Scribner’s, 16 February 1953). Scribner’s published a $3.00 hardbound reprint in April 1953 and a $1.45 paperback in August 1957.

190b. Title page reset (c. 1940)

[within single rules] [8-line title and statement of responsibility within second single-rule frame] THE SUN | ALSO | RISES | BY | ERNEST | HEMINGWAY | INTRODUCTION BY | HENRY SEIDEL CANBY | [below inner frame: torchbearer D5 at right; 3-line imprint at left] THE | MODERN LIBRARY | NEW YORK

Pagination and collation as 190a.

Contents as 190a except: [ii] blank; [iv] COPYRIGHT, 1926, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS.

Jacket B: Pictorial in vivid red (11), vivid yellow (82), yellowish gray (93) and black on coated white paper with inset illustration of a sword draped with a vivid red cloth, suspended against a black sky with vivid yellow sun and over yellowish gray earth; lettering in black and vivid red, background in white. Signed: McKnight Kauffer.

Front flap as 190a. (Spring 1942)

Also in the Modern Library
Hemingway, Farewell to Arms (1932–1953) 237
Hemingway, Short Stories (Giant, 1942–1954) G59

191

LEO TOLSTOY. ANNA KARENINA. 1930–1973. (ML 37)

191.1a. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] ANNA | KARENINA | [rule] | BY | COUNT LEO TOLSTOY | [rule] | [torchbearer C1] | [rule] | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [6], [1–2] 3–950 [951–954]. [1]¹⁶(±3) [2–30]¹⁶

[1–2] blank; [3] half title; [4] pub. note D7; [5] title; [6] First Modern Library Edition | 1930 | [short double rule]; [1] fly title; [2] blank; 3–950 text; [951–954] blank. Note: The title leaf (pp. [5–6]) was canceled and replaced with a newly printed leaf. It is not known why the original leaf was canceled.

Variant A: Pagination as 191.1a. [1–30]¹⁶. Contents (including First statement) as 191.1a. Note: Priority with 191.1a not established; both were probably counted as part of the first printing of 20,000 copies.

Variant B: Pp. [4], [1–2] 3–950 [951–956]. [1–30]¹⁶. Contents as 191.1a except: [1] half title; [2] pub. note D7; [3] title; [4] manufacturing statement; [951–954] ML list; [955–956] blank. (Spring 1931)

Jacket A: Uniform typographic jacket D. (Fall 1929)

Jacket B: Pictorial in moderate blue (182) and black on cream paper depicting a seated woman in a moderate blue costume and a large black hat; borders in moderate blue, title in moderate blue, other lettering in black. Signed: Loederer. (Spring 1931)

Front flap:
No estimate of Tolstoy the writer can ignore Tolstoy the man. People of every shade of conviction look upon him as one of the few Christians since Christ, and few dispute his position as one of the most forceful and influential literary figures of the nineteenth century. Anna Karenina is considered his greatest novel, and Anna, the protagonist, the most notable character in the vast gallery of his creations. (Spring 1934)

Original U.S. publication of Constance Garnett translation not ascertained. ML edition printed from plates made from a new typesetting. Published February 1930. WR 8 March 1930. First printing: 20,000 copies. Superseded fall 1965 by revised translation (191.2). Klopfer asked the ML’s printer to order enough paper for 20,000 copies of Anna Karenina (Klopfer to Mr. Wilkins, H. Wolff Estate, 4 December 1929). The paper was the same stock used for The Brothers Karamazov (171.1a).

Anna Karenina appears to have been the best-selling title in the ML in 1931 and the eighth best-selling title in 1934. It ranked low in the first quarter of ML titles during the 18-month period May 1942–October 1943 and moved up a few notches during the 12-month period November 1951–October 1952.

191.1b. Title page reset (c. 1940)

ANNA | KARENINA | BY | COUNT LEO TOLSTOY | TRANSLATED BY CONSTANCE GARNETT | [torchbearer D1 at right; 3-line imprint at left] THE | MODERN LIBRARY | NEW YORK | [rule]

Pp. [4], [1–2] 3–950 [951–956]. [1–30]¹⁶

Contents as 191.1a variant B except: [2] blank; [4] publication and manufacturing statements within single rules; [951–956] ML list. (Spring 1945)

Jacket C1: Pictorial in very dark green (147), gold and black on coated white paper with inset illustration of a soldier kissing a lady’s hand; background in very dark green with title and author in reverse, other lettering in black. Signed: Galdone. Adapted from MLG jacket (G21.1 jacket B).

Front flap as 191.1a jacket B. (Fall 1944)

191.1c. Troyat introduction added (1950)

ANNA | KARENINA | [short decorative rule] | By Count Leo Tolstoy | TRANSLATED BY CONSTANCE GARNETT | With an Introduction by | HENRI TROYAT | [torchbearer E5] | The Modern Library · New York

Pp. [i–iv] v–xviii, [1–2] 3–950 [951–958]. [1–29]¹⁶ [30]⁸ [31]¹⁶

[i] half title; [ii] blank; [iii] title; [iv] Copyright, 1950, by Random House, Inc.; v–xv INTRODUCTION | By Henri Troyat; xvi–xviii BIBLIOGRAPHY; [1] fly title with epigraph from Romans 12:19; [2] blank; 3–950 text; [951–956] ML list; [957–958] ML Giants list. (Fall 1950)

Jacket C2: As jacket C1 except in deep green (142) instead of very dark green.

Flap text revised:
No estimate of Tolstoy the writer can be of any meaning if it disregards Tolstoy the man. As a man, he represents the best of nineteenth-century humanitarianism and a generous Christian morality. As a writer, he towers above all the literary figures of his time, and his two great novels—War and Peace (Modern Library Giant G-1) and Anna Karenina—are universally acclaimed as classics. Anna of the latter novel is considered the most notable character in the vast gallery of the great and obscure people who live in the pages of his works. The translation from the Russian by Constance Garnett is complete and unabridged. (Fall 1952)

Originally published 1950 in MLCE and subsequently in the regular ML. Several authors were asked to write the introduction before Troyat accepted the assignment. Stein’s first choice was René Wellek of Yale University. Wellek declined because of other commitments and observed, “Mrs. Garnett for some strange reason . . . chose to call the husband of Anna Karenina also Karenina though this a feminine form and means Mrs. Karenin. He should be Karenin throughout the book” (Wellek to Stein, 28 January 1950). He also noted a few other errors in the ML’s text that were corrected in the plates for the MLCE printing. Stein offered to extend the deadline to enable Wellek to write the introduction. Wellek was willing, but instead of the ML’s $200 fee he wanted a $500 advance against a small royalty, which was the arrangement he had with Rinehart for his introduction to Gogol’s Dead Souls. Stein indicated that $200 was all the ML could pay, and Wellek declined a second time (Wellek to Stein, 3 February 1950 and 1 March 1950). Richard G. Salomon of Kenyon College and Vladimir Nabokov, who was then teaching at Cornell University, also declined. Nabokov indicated that he could not write an introduction for a translation he had not checked for errors and that in any case his fee would be $500 (Nabokov telegram to Stein, 17 March 1950).
Troyat agreed to write the introduction for the ML’s $200 fee (Troyat to Stein, 24 March 1950). It was written in French and translated by J. Robert Loy of Columbia University.

191.2. Translation revised (1965)

[left page of 2-page spread] EDITED AND INTRODUCED BY | LEONARD J. KENT | AND | NINA BERBEROVA | THE CONSTANCE GARNETT TRANSLATION HAS | BEEN REVISED THROUGHOUT BY THE EDITORS | THE MODERN LIBRARY NEW YORK | [torchbearer J] | [right page of 2-page spread] LEO TOLSTOY | [rule] | [inverted pyramid of 6 ornaments] ANNA [inverted pyramid of 6 ornaments] | KARENINA

Pp. [i–vii] viii–xxiii [xxiv–xxvi], [1–3] 4–855 [856–870]. [1–2]¹⁶ [3–14]³² [15–16]¹⁶

[i] half title; [ii–iii] title; [iv] First Modern Library Edition, September, 1965 | © Copyright, 1965, by Random House, Inc.; [v] editors’ dedication; [vi] blank; [vii]–viii EDITORS’ NOTE; [ix]–xxiii INTRODUCTION signed p. xxiii: October 1964 | LEONARD J. KENT | Quinnipiac College | Hamden, Connecticut | NINA BERBEROVA | Princeton University | Princeton, New Jersey; [xxiv] blank; [xxv] table headed: Nineteenth-Century Russian Civil, Military, and Court Ranks; [xxvi] blank; [1] fly title; [2] epigraph from Romans 12:19; [3]–851 text; [852] blank; [853]–855 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY IN ENGLISH; [856] blank; [857–864] ML list; [865–866] ML Giants list; [867–870] blank. (Fall 1965) Note: First statement and fall 1965 lists retained in subsequent printings. The first printing has Kent endpapers in gray.

Jacket D: Pictorial in moderate blue (182), brilliant orange yellow (67), dark greenish yellow (103) and black on coated white paper with area below title and author ruled into 3 panels containing illustrations of a man’s head with moderate blue smoke, a woman’s head with moderate blue smoke, and a train emitting moderate blue smoke; lettering in black and moderate blue, all against white background.

Front flap:
ANNA KARENINA was begun in 1873, seven years after the publication of War and Peace, and appeared in installments from 1875 to 1877. It is one of Tolstoy’s masterpieces, written at the height of his power and reflecting almost every aspect of his method and attitudes.
Leonard J. Kent and Nina Berberova have revised the Constance Garnett translation, in the interests of clarity and accuracy, and, where necessary, to offer a better rendering in English of the sense of the original Russian. They have also provided an Introduction and notes on the text.

Originally published as ML Giant (G21.2a), September 1965. Regular ML edition (pp. [i]–855) printed from offset plates photographically reduced from G21.2a. Published fall 1965. WR not found. First printing: Not ascertained. Discontinued 1973/74.

Also in the Modern Library
Tolstoy, Death of Ivan Ilyitch (1918–1932) 64
Tolstoy, Redemption and Two Other Plays (1919–1932) 71
Tolstoy, War and Peace (Giant, 1931– ) G1
Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (Giant, 1935– ) G21
Tolstoy, Short Stories (1964–1971) 563
Tolstoy, Selected Essays (1964–1969) 564
Tolstoy, Short Novels, vol. 1 (1965–1971; 1979– ) 571
Tolstoy, Short Stories, vol. 2 (1965–1970) 578
Tolstoy, Short Novels, vol. 2 (1966–1970) 584

192

JAMES HUNEKER. PAINTED VEILS. 1930–1942. (ML 43)

192a. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] PAINTED VEILS | [rule] | BY | JAMES HUNEKER | [rule] | [torchbearer A3] | [rule] | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [1–12] 13–310 [311–312]. [1–9]¹⁶ [10]¹²

[1] half title; [2] pub. note D5; [3] title; [4] Copyright, 1920, by JAMES HUNEKER | [short double rule] | First Modern Library Edition | 1930; [5] THE SEVEN DEADLY VIRTUES; [6] blank; [7] text and epigraph; [8] blank; [9] text and epigraphs; [10] blank; [11] part title: THE FIRST GATE | At the first gate, the warder stripped her; he took the | high tiara from her head . . .; [12] blank; 13–310 text; [311–312] blank.

Jacket: Pictorial in strong red (12), dark gray (266) and black on cream paper depicting a kneeling woman in strong red with her face in her hand, casting a dark gray shadow; borders in strong red, lettering in black. Signed: [Irving] Politzer. (Spring 1930)

Front flap:
A bright constellation of artists, dilettantes and voluptuaries made Bohemian New York a haven for the practitioners of all the deadly sins. Into their midst came Easter Brandès with her operatic ambitions and luminous beauty. A great Isolde, she had the morals of a soprano and the heart of a pawnbroker. Painted Veils is the story of her career as a singing harlot in a modern Babylon. It is told with the irrepressible mirth and flavor of that shrewd and ever-fascinating promenader among the seven arts— James Huneker. (Spring 1936)

Originally published by Boni & Liveright, 1920. New bibliographical edition published by Horace Liveright, 1928. ML edition (pp. [5]–310) printed from 1928 Liveright plates with pp. [5] and [9] transposed. Published March 1930. WR 12 April 1930. First printing: 10,000 copies. Discontinued fall 1942.

The ML paid Liveright a $5,000 advance. Painted Veils was the ML’s best-selling title in 1930, followed by Hemingway’s Sun Also Rises (190) and Merejkowski’s Romance of Leonardo da Vinci (154). It continued to sell well but did not rank among the ML’s twenty best-selling titles during the first six months of 1931 (RH box 117, Publicity file). There was a second printing of 5,000 copies in September 1930 and a third printing of 3,000 copies in March 1931. ML printings totaled 26,000 copies by September 1933.

Shortly after Painted Veils was published, Thomas R. “Tommy” Smith, the editor-in-chief of Boni & Liveright, suggested a ML edition of Huneker’s autobiography Steeplejack (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1930). Cerf replied, “We are doing awfully well with Painted Veils, but do you really think that anything else of Huneker’s will sell well? There is no question that Steeplejack is a hell of a lot better book” (Cerf to Smith, 26 February 1931). Five years later Max Perkins of Charles Scribner’s Sons indicated that the ML could add any of the Huneker titles it published, such as Essays, selected and introduced by H. L. Mencken (1929) or Steeplejack. Cerf replied, “I am afraid Huneker’s glory has faded too much . . . to make him a good bet for the Modern Library (Perkins to Cerf, 10 July 1936; Cerf to Perkins, 15 July 1936). The ML edition of Painted Veils was discontinued six years later.

192b. Title page reset (1941)

[torchbearer D5] | [5-line title and statement of responsibility within single rules] PAINTED | VEILS | BY | JAMES | HUNEKER | [below frame] MODERN LIBRARY · NEW YORK

Pagination and collation as 192a.

Contents as 192a except: [2] blank; [4] COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY JAMES HUNEKER.

Jacket B: Non-pictorial in grayish red (19) and black on cream paper with title and author in reverse on inset grayish red panel; background in black with series and torchbearer in reverse below panel. Front flap as 192a. (Spring 1941)

193

ANTON TCHEKOV. THE PLAYS OF ANTON TCHEKOV. 1930–1956. (ML 171)

193a. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] THE PLAYS OF | ANTON TCHEKOV | [rule] | TRANSLATED BY | CONSTANCE GARNETT | [rule] | PREFACE BY | EVA LE GALLIENNE | [rule] | [torchbearer A2] | [rule] | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [i–vi] vii–xi [xii], [1–2] 3–300. [1–9]¹⁶ [10]¹²

[i] half title; [ii] pub. note D5; [iii] title; [iv] First Modern Library Edition | 1930 | [short double rule]; [v] CONTENTS; [vi] blank; vii–xi PREFACE signed p. xi: Eva Le Gallienne. | New York, | November, 1929.; [xii] blank; [1] part title: THE SEA-GULL | A Comedy in Four Acts | First performed at St. Petersburg, | October 17, 1896; [2] CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY; 3–300 text.

Variant: Pp. [i–vi] vii–xi [xii], [1–2] 3–300 [301–308]. [1–10]¹⁶. Contents as 193a except: [ii] pub. note A6; [iv] manufacturing statement; [301–305] ML list; [306] ML Giants list; [307–308] blank. (Spring 1937)

Contents: The Sea-Gull – The Cherry Orchard – Three Sisters – Uncle Vanya – The Anniversary – On the High Road – The Wedding.

Jacket A: Uniform typographic jacket D. (Spring 1930)

Front flap:
As eminent among modern dramatists as he is among short-story writers, Anton Tchekov is here represented by seven of his most important plays. For their penetrating revelation of character, for their sharp and poignant situations and for their compassionate understanding, these plays embody the method and the spirit that have made Tchekov world famous. His ability to convert commonplace events into universal experience, his pervasive humor and his unfailing insight make him not only one of the greatest of dramatists, but also one of the most revered. (Fall 1936)

Jacket B1: Pictorial in vivid red (11), black and gold on coated white paper with drawing of Russian city with bridge over a river on inset vivid red panel; lettering on panel in black except author in reverse, background in black lined in gold. Designed by Paul Galdone, October 1937, for Stories of Anton Tchekov (232b jacket B); unsigned.

Front flap as 193a. (Spring 1939)

Superseded by Chekhov, Best Plays, trans. Stark Young (1956–86) 487

The Plays of Anton Tchekov ranked in the third quarter of ML titles in terms of sales during the 18-month period May 1942–October 1943. It was not among the 100 best-selling titles in the regular ML during the 12-month period November 1951–October 1952.

The ML used the spelling “Chekhov” from 1917 through 1929 and the spelling “Tchekov” from 1930 through spring 1956. Eva Le Gallienne’s use of “Tchekov” in the typescript of her preface to The Plays of Anton Tchekov (1930: 193) was probably responsible for the ML’s adoption of that spelling (RH box 89, Eva Le Gallienne file). The ML reverted to “Chekhov” in fall 1956 with the Stark Young translation of Best Plays.

193b. Title page reset (1940)

THE PLAYS | OF | ANTON | TCHEKOV | TRANSLATED BY | CONSTANCE GARNETT | PREFACE BY | EVA LE GALLIENNE | [torchbearer E1] | [rule] | MODERN LIBRARY · NEW YORK | [rule]

Pagination and collation as 193b variant.

Contents as 193a variant except: [ii] blank; [iv] publication and manufacturing statements within single rules; [306–307] ML Giants list; [308] blank. (Fall 1940)

Variant: Pp. [i–vi] vii–xi [xii], [1–2] 3–300. [1–9]¹⁶ [10]¹². Contents as 193b through p. 300. (Fall 1944 jacket)

JacketB2: Enlarged version of 193a, jacket B1. (Fall 1940)

Also in the Modern Library
Chekhov, Rothschild’s Fiddle and Other Stories (1917–1931) 27
Chekhov, Stories of Anton Tchekov (1932–1956); Stories of Anton Chekhov (1957–1963); Short Stories of Anton Chekhov (1964– ) 232
Chekhov, Best Plays, trans. Stark Young (1956–1986) 487

194

MARCEL PROUST. WITHIN A BUDDING GROVE. 1930–1970. (ML 172)

194a. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] WITHIN | A BUDDING GROVE | [rule] | BY | MARCEL PROUST | [rule] | TRANSLATED BY | C. K. SCOTT MONCRIEFF | [rule] | [torchbearer A2] | [rule] | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [10], 1–396; [2], 1–356 [357–360]. [1–24]¹⁶

[1] half title; [2] pub. note A6; [3] title; [4] Copyright, 1924, By THOMAS SELTZER | [short double rule] | First Modern Library Edition | 1930; [5] TRANSLATOR’S DEDICATION; [6] blank; [7] CONTENTS; [8] blank; [9] part title: PART I; [10] blank; 1–396 text; [1] part title: PART II; [2] blank; 1–356 text; [357–360] ML list. (Spring 1930)

Jacket A: Uniform typographic jacket D. (Fall 1929)

Jacket B: Pictorial in pale blue (185) and black on cream paper with silhouette of Proust in reverse on inset scalloped black in black; borders in pale blue, lettering in pale blue and black. Signed: Brienza.

Front flap:
Remembrance of Things Past is the general title for the life work of Marcel Proust, and one by one, the seven independent novels which comprise the whole are being made available for readers of the Modern Library. Swann’s Way, the first novel, is volume No. 59; this is the second novel; the third, The Guermantes Way, is No. 213. Other parts will be published later. The novels should be read in their proper order, that their subtlety and depth may be savored to the full. (Spring 1934)

Scott Moncrieff translation originally published in U.S. in two volumes by Thomas Seltzer, 1924, and Albert & Charles Boni, 1928. ML edition (pp. [5–7], 1–396; 1–356) printed from Seltzer/Boni plates with table of contents revised and part titles added. Publication announced for April 1930 but moved forward to January. WR 25 January 1930. First printing: 10,000 copies. Discontinued 1970/71.

There was a second printing of 3,000 copies in December 1930. Within a Budding Grove appears to have been omitted from the ML’s 1942–43 ranking of titles in terms of sales.

194b. Title page reset (1940)

Within a Budding Grove | BY MARCEL PROUST | translated by | C. K. SCOTT MONCRIEFF | [torchbearer D1 at right; 3-line imprint at left] THE | MODERN LIBRARY | NEW YORK | [rule]

Pagination and collation as 194a.

Contents as 194a except: [2] blank; [4] COPYRIGHT, 1924, BY THOMAS SELTZER; [357–360] blank.

Variant: Pagination as 194a. [1]¹⁶ [2–12]³² [13]¹⁶. Contents as 194b except: [4] COPYRIGHT, 1924, BY THOMAS SELTZER | COPYRIGHT, 1951, BY RANDOM HOUSE, INC.; [357–358] ML Giants list; [359] American College Dictionary advertisement; [360] blank. (Spring/fall 1959)

Jacket C: Pictorial in medium gray (265) and dark red (16) on cream paper with silhouette of Proust in dark red against solid medium gray background with lettering in reverse.

Front flap as 194a. (Spring 1940)

Front flap revised:
All seven volumes of Marcel Proust’s life work, Remembrance of Things Past, are now available, complete and unabridged, for American readers in the Modern Library series. . . . Each of the seven novels is a separate entity and yet is an integral part of the grand design of Proust’s modern masterpiece. (Fall 1959)

Jacket D: As jacket A except in strong green (141) and deep yellowish pink (27) on coated white paper. (Fall 1964)

Also in the Modern Library
Proust, Swann’s Way (1928–1971; 1977–1982) 166
Proust, Guermantes Way (1933–1970) 264
Proust, Cities of the Plain (1938–1970) 316
Proust, The Captive (1941–1970) 340
Proust, Sweet Cheat Gone (1948–1971) 408
Proust, The Past Recaptured (1951–1971) 443

195

JOHN DEWEY. HUMAN NATURE AND CONDUCT. 1930–1986. (ML 173)

195.1a₁. First printing, first state (1930)

[within double rules] HUMAN NATURE | AND CONDUCT | AN INTRODUCTION | TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY | [rule] | BY | JOHN DEWEY | [rule] | WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION | BY | JOHN DEWEY | [rule] | [torchbearer A2] | [rule] | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [i–iv] v–ix [x], [iii–iv] v–vii, 14–336 [337–342]. [1–10]¹⁶ [11]¹²

[i] half title; [ii] pub. note A6; [iii] title; [iv] Copyright, 1922, By HENRY HOLT & CO. | [short double rule] | Introduction Copyright, 1930, by | THE MODERN LIBRARY | [short double rule] | First Modern Library Edition | 1930; v–ix FOREWORD TO THE MODERN | LIBRARY EDITION signed p. ix: John Dewey. | New York City, | Dec., 1929.; [x] blank; [iii] PREFACE signed: J. D. | February, 1921.; [iv] blank; v–vii CONTENTS; 14–332 text; 333–336 INDEX; [337–340] ML list; [341–342] blank. (Spring 1930)

Jacket A: Uniform typographic jacket D. (Spring 1930)

Originally published by Henry Holt & Co., 1922. ML edition (195.1a₁, pp. [iii]–vii, 14–336) printed from corrected Holt plates with the introduction (pp. 1–13) omitted; 195.1a₂ and subsequent printings of 195.1 are printed from the same plates and include the introduction. Published April 1930. WR not found. First printing: 7,000 copies. Discontinued 1986/87.

Cerf initially approached Holt about a ML edition in 1927, offering an advance of $560 against royalties of 8 cents a copy (Cerf to Elliot Holt, 1 April 1927). Holt replied that the book continued to sell as a college text and the College Department objected to a ML edition (E. Holt to Cerf, 2 April 1927). Cerf tried again the following year when Herschel Brickell became head of the trade department after a reorganization of the firm. “I wish some day, that you could convince the new bosses that it might be a good thing for them to let us do John Dewey’s ‘Human Nature and Conduct’ in the Modern Library. We pay 10¢ a copy royalty a book, and do a first edition of 7500 copies, with a first payment of $750.00 upon signing of the contract. If you could put that over for us, you would win our undying devotion” (Cerf to Brickell, 13 February 1928).

By 1929 arrangements for a ML edition were moving forward. Brickell told Cerf that he had written to Dewey for permission to proceed (Brickell to Cerf, 10 September 1929). Three weeks later Cerf asked Dewey to write an introduction to the ML edition, offering him a fee of $100 and suggesting Havelock Ellis’s introduction to The Dance of Life (1929:180) as a model (Cerf to Dewey, 1 October 1929). Dewey agreed to write the introduction and sent a list of corrections to the text (Dewey to Cerf, 8 November 1929). Cerf asked Holt to charge the corrections to the ML’s account, but Holt corrected the plates at its own expense. Dewey’s new introduction was titled “Foreword to the Modern Library Edition” since Human Nature and Conduct already included a preface and an introduction by Dewey.

Someone appears to have assumed that Dewey’s new foreword superseded his introduction to the original edition, even though the introduction was paginated in Arabic numerals (pp. 1–13) and therefore was clearly part of the text. The first ML printing omitted the introduction. When the mistake was discovered the eighth leaf of the first gathering, with the last page of the contents on its recto and page 14 of Dewey’s text on its verso, was canceled in all remaining copies of the first printing. In its place a newly printed sheet consisting of a sewn gathering of 8 leaves (16 pages) was pasted to the stub of the canceled leaf in all remaining copies, thereby creating the second state of the first printing. The 16-page gathering consisted of p. vii (the last page of the contents with its verso blank), Dewey’s introduction (pp. 1–13), and the first page of Part One of Dewey’s text (p. 14). With the creation of the second state of the first printing (195.1a₂) uncorrected copies became the first state of the first printing.

There was a second printing of 2,000 copies in December 1930 and a third printing of 3,000 copies in August 1931. There were at least nine printings between March 1933 and May 1943 totaling 15,000 copies. A printing of 5,000 copies (March 1945) followed the end of wartime paper rationing.

Human Nature and Conduct was low in the third quarter of ML titles in terms of sales during the 18-month period May 1942–October 1943. It ranked solidly in the second quarter of ML titles by the 12-month period November 1952–October 1953.

195.1a₂. First printing, second state (1930)

Title as 195.1a₁.

Pp. [i–iv] v–ix [x], [iii–iv] v–vii [viii], 1–336 [337–342]. [1]¹⁶(–8+χ⁸) [2–10]¹⁶ [11]¹²

Contents as 195.1a₁ except: [viii] blank; 1–13 INTRODUCTION. Note: The eighth leaf of the first gathering (pp. vii, 14) of 195.1a₁ has been canceled and replaced by an inserted gathering of eight leaves (pp. vii–14).

Jacket A: As 195.1a₁. (Spring 1930)

See the third paragraph of the publishing history notes under 195.1a₁ for information about the second state of the first printing.

195.1b. Second printing (1930)

Title as 195.1a₁.

Pp. [i–iv] v–ix [x], [iii–iv] v–vii [viii], 1–336. [1–11]¹⁶

Contents as 195.1a₂ except: [ii] pub. note D5; [iv] First statement omitted.

Jacket B: Uniform typographic jacket D. (Spring 1932)

Front flap:
The dean of American philosophy gives here the fruit of his lifelong researches in the dynamic interaction between human nature and the social environment. His thesis is the continuity of nature, man and society. Upon this conception he argues for a free and realistic morality and interprets individual and social psychology. The conclusions drawn by Professor Dewey provide a set of values to which the modern mind can subscribe with the fullest accord. Human Nature and Conduct is an essential contribution to a better understanding of social relations. (Spring 1936)

195.1c. Title page reset (c. 1940)

HUMAN NATURE | AND CONDUCT | An Introduction to Social Psychology | BY JOHN DEWEY | WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY | JOHN DEWEY | [torchbearer D4] | [rule] | THE MODERN LIBRARY · NEW YORK | [rule]

Pagination and collation as 191.1b.

Contents as 195.1b except: [ii] blank; [iv] COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY | INTRODUCTION COPYRIGHT, 1930, | BY THE MODERN LIBRARY, INC.

Variant A: Pp. [i–iv] v–ix [x], [iii–v] vi–vii [viii], 1–336. [1–11]¹⁶. Contents as 195.1b except: [v]–vii CONTENTS Note: Battered page numeral “v” removed from table of contents. (Spring 1953 jacket)

Variant B: Pagination and collation as variant A. Contents as variant A except: [iv] COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY | COPYRIGHT, 1950, BY JOHN DEWEY | INTRODUCTION COPYRIGHT, 1930, 1957, | BY THE MODERN LIBRARY, INC. (Fall 1965/spring 1966 format)

Jacket C: Non-pictorial in deep purplish blue (197) and dark gray (266) on cream paper with title and author in reverse on deep purplish blue panel at upper left; other lettering in dark gray against cream background. Designed by Joseph Blumenthal.

Front flap as 195.1b. (Spring 1940)

195.2a. Text reset; offset printing (1967)

HUMAN | NATURE AND | CONDUCT [ornament] | An Introduction to Social Psychology | JOHN DEWEY | [ornament] With an Introduction by John Dewey | THE MODERN LIBRARY · New York | [torchbearer J]

Pp. [i–v] vi–xiv, [1–3] 4–306. [1–10]¹⁶

[i] half title; [ii] blank; [iii] title; [iv] COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY | COPYRIGHT RENEWED, 1950, BY JOHN DEWEY | COPYRIGHT, 1930, AND RENEWED, 1957, | BY THE MODERN LIBRARY, INC.; [v]–viii Foreword to | the Modern Library Edition signed p. viii: John Dewey. | New York City, | Dec. 1929.; [ix] Preface signed: J. D. | February, 1921.; [x] blank; [xi]–xiv Contents; [1] fly title; [2] blank; [3]–13 Introduction; [14] blank; [15] part title: PART ONE | THE PLACE | OF HABIT IN | CONDUCT; [16] blank; [17]–302 text; [303]–306 Index.

Jacket D: Fujita jacket in deep yellowish green (132), deep brown (56) and black on coated white paper with lettering in black, deep yellowish green and brown and four stick figures in the same colors, all against white background. Front flap as 195.1b.

195.2b. Title page with Fujita torchbearer (c. 1969)

Title as 195.2a except line 8: [torchbearer K].

Pagination, collation and contents as 195.2a.

Jacket D as 195.2a.

195.2c. Reissue format (1977)

Title as 195.2a except line 8: [torchbearer M].

Pagination as 195.2a. Perfect bound.

Contents as 195.2a.

Jacket E: Non-pictorial on kraft paper with lettering in black and torchbearer in deep brown (56). Designed by R. D. Scudellari.

Front flap slightly revised from 195.1b.

Published fall 1977 at $4.95. ISBN 0-394-60439-3.

Also in the Modern Library
Dewey, Intelligence in the Modern World (Giant, 1939–1970) G41
Dewey, John Dewey on Education (1964–1973) 565

196

MANUEL KOMROFF, ed. ORIENTAL ROMANCES. 1930–1935. (ML 55)

196. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] ORIENTAL | ROMANCES | [rule] | EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY | MANUEL KOMROFF | [rule] | [torchbearer A2] | [rule] | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [i–iv] v–ix [x], 1–306 [307–310]. [1–10]¹⁶

[i] half title; [ii] pub. note A6; [iii] title; [iv] Copyright, 1930, by THE MODERN LIBRARY, INC. | [short double rule] | First Modern Library Edition | 1930 | [short double rule]; v CONTENTS; [vi] blank; vii–ix INTRODUCTION signed p. ix: Manuel Komroff. | New York, December, 1929.; [x] blank; 1–306 text; [307–310] ML list. (Spring 1930)

Contents: The Three Deceitful Women – Adventures of Pramati – Baar Danesh or Garden of Knowledge – Lessons in Love – The Three Haschich Eaters – Utpalavarna – Adventures of Mitragupta – The Eta Maiden and the Hatamoto – The Kazi of Ghazni and the Merchant’s Wife – All for a Pansa – How Hind Revenged Herself – The Wisdom of Visakha – The Vampire’s Stories – The Loves of Gompachi and Komurasaki – The Princess Zelica – Marriage of Avantisundari – How Yunus the Scribe Sold His Slave-Girl – The Faithful Wife of the King’s Attendant – The Lovers Who Died of Love – The Forty-seven Ronins – The Old Pair of Slippers – The Envious Vazir.

Jacket: Pictorial in moderate yellowish green (136) and black on brilliant yellow (87) paper depicting a couple with parasol crossing a curved footbridge with pagoda in background; borders in moderate yellowish green, lettering in black and moderate yellowish green. Signed: [Irving] Politzer. (Spring 1930)

Original ML anthology. Published May 1930. WR not found. First (and probably only) printing: Not ascertained. Discontinued fall 1935.

Komroff began working on Oriental Romances in 1926 when he made a trip to London and acquired the source books from which he planned to select the contents (Komroff to Cerf, 15 September 1926). A note in the RH archives indicates that 8,421 copies were bound, so the first printing consisted of at least that many copies.

Fall

197

MIGUEL DE CERVANTES. DON QUIXOTE. 1930–1971. (ML 174)

197.1a. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] DON QUIXOTE | [rule] | BY | MIGUEL DE CERVANTES | [rule] | OZELL’S REVISION OF | THE TRANSLATION OF | PETER MOTTEUX | [rule] | INTRODUCTION BY | HERSCHEL BRICKELL | [rule] | [torchbearer C1] | [rule] | BENNETT A. CERF : DONALD S. KLOPFER | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [i–iv] v–xxiv, 1–936. [1–30]¹⁶

[i] half title; [ii] pub. note D7; [iii] title; [iv] Introduction Copyright, 1930, by The Modern Library, Inc. | [short double rule] | FIRST MODERN LIBRARY EDITION | 1930; v–xiv INTRODUCTION signed p. xiv: Herschel Brickell. | New York | May, 1930; xv–xviii AN ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR; xix–xxiv THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE READER; 1–936 text.

Jacket: Pictorial in vivid orange (48) and black on cream paper with drawing of Don Quixote holding a lance; borders in vivid orange, lettering in black. Signed: Wuyts. (Spring 1930) Front flap: Not seen.

ML edition printed from plates made from a new typesetting. Publication announced for June 1930. WR 6 September 1930. First printing: Not ascertained. Superseded fall 1964 by Putnam translation (197.2a).

Brickell received $75 for his introduction. Cerf indicated that he didn’t have to submit it until the first week of May for a June publication date (Cerf to Brickell, 28 December 1929).

Don Quixote ranked in the middle of the second quarter of ML titles in terms of sales during the 18-month period May 1942–October 1943. It was in the first quarter of ML titles during the 12-month period November 1952–October 1953. Don Quixote (G14) was also available in MLG; sales of that edition were in the fourth quarter of ML titles during 1942–43.

Cervantes was one of four authors who were published in the regular ML, ML Giants, and the Illustrated ML. The other works included in all three series were Dostoyevsky, Brothers Karamazov (1929: 171), Giant (1937: G34), Illus ML (1943: IML 2); Fielding, History of Tom Jones (1931: 208), Giant (1940: G52), Illus ML (1943: IML 5); and Whitman, Leaves of Grass (1921: 94; initially titled Poems), Giant (1940: G48); Illus ML (1944: IML 12).

197.1b. Title page reset; introduction revised (c. 1940)

DON | QUIXOTE | BY | MIGUEL DE CERVANTES | OZELL’S REVISION OF THE | TRANSLATION OF PETER MOTTEUX | INTRODUCTION | BY HERSCHEL BRICKELL | [torchbearer E1] | [rule] | MODERN LIBRARY · NEW YORK | [rule]

Pagination and collation as 197.1a.

Contents as 197.1a except: [ii] blank; [iv] INTRODUCTION COPYRIGHT, 1930, | BY THE MODERN LIBRARY, INC.; v–xiv INTRODUCTION signed p. xiv: Herschel Brickell. | New York | May, 1930. | Revised | July, 1938.

Jacket: Pictorial in deep reddish orange (36), medium gray (265) and black on coated white paper depicting two lances touching oval target crossed by a broken lance; lettering in reverse, deep reddish orange and medium gray with QUIXOTE in reverse shaded in medium gray, all against black background. Signed: McKnight Kauffer.

Front flap:
The great French critic Sainte-Beuve called Don Quixote “the Bible of Humanity.” For more than three and a quarter centuries it has maintained its position as the most eagerly read novel in any language. Its appeal is universal; scholars still discover a wealth of new meanings in it and general readers find constantly fresh enjoyment. The Modern Library edition, complete and unabridged, is Ozell’s revision of the translation of Peter Motteux. Herschel Brickell contributes a glowing introduction, with a biographical sketch of the creator of “one of the most impressive memorials to the spirit of man.” (Spring 1941)

197.1c. Title page reset (date not ascertained)

DON QUIXOTE | [decorative rule] BY | MIGUEL DE CERVANTES | OZELL’S REVISION OF THE | TRANSLATION OF PETER MOTTEUX | INTRODUCTION BY HERSCHEL BRICKELL | [torchbearer not ascertained] | [decorative rule] | BENNETT A. CERF · DONALD S. KLOPFER | THE MODERN LIBRARY | NEW YORK

Pagination and collation as 197.1a.

Contents as 197.1b.

Jacket: Not seen.

197.1d. Doyle introduction added (1950)

The Ingenious Gentleman | DON QUIXOTE | DE LA MANCHA | By Miguel de Cervantes | [rule] | OZELL’S REVISION OF THE | TRANSLATION OF PETER MOTTEUX | [rule] | Introduction by HENRY GRATTAN DOYLE | Professor of Romance Languages and | Dean of Columbian College, | The George Washington University | [torchbearer E5] | The Modern Library: New York

Pp. [i–iv] v–xxii [xxiii–xxxii], [2], 1–936 [937–942]. [1–29]¹⁶ [30]⁸ [31]¹⁶

[i] half title; [ii] blank; [iii] title; [iv] Copyright, 1950, by Random House, Inc.; v–xvi INTRODUCTION | By Henry Grattan Doyle; xvi (cont.)–xx BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE; xx (cont.)–xxii SELECT READING LIST; [xxiii–xxvi] AN ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR; [xxvii–xxxii] THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE READER; [1] fly title; [2] blank; 1–936 text; [937–942] ML list. (Fall 1954)

Jacket: As 197.1b with flap text updated and slightly revised. (Spring 1954)

Originally published 1950 in MLCE and subsequently in the regular ML. The regular ML edition was available by 1953, when Doyle first became aware of it. Doyle received $150 for his introduction (Stein to Doyle, 25 January 1950).

197.2a. Putnam translation (1964)

The Ingenious Gentleman | Don | Quixote | DE LA MANCHA | [ornament] | Miguel de Cervantes | COMPLETE IN TWO PARTS | A new translation from the Spanish, with a Critical Text | Based upon the First Editions of 1605 and 1615, and with Variant | Readings, Variorum Notes, and an Introduction by | SAMUEL PUTNAM | [torchbearer J] | THE MODERN LIBRARY · NEW YORK

Pp. [2], [i–vi] vii–xxx, [1–2] 3–1043 [1044–1056]. [1]¹⁶ [2–17]³² [18]¹⁶

[1–2] blank; [i] half title; [ii] blank; [iii] title; [iv] Copyright, 1949, by the Viking Press, Inc.; [v] CONTENTS; [vi] translator’s dedication and epigraph in Spanish from Don Quixote, pt. 2, chap. 25; vii–xxv TRANSLATOR’S INTRODUCTION signed p. xxv: Samuel Putnam | Philadelphia, 1948; xxv (cont.)–xxx A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR OF | DON QUIXOTE; [1] part title: PART ONE | The Ingenious Gentleman | DON QUIXOTE | DE LA MANCHA; [2] blank; 3–6 PART ONE: CONTENTS; [7]–9 certificates, royal privilege, and dedicatory letter; [10] blank; 11–16 Prologue; 17–23 PREFATORY POEMS; [24] blank; 25–463 text; [464] blank; 465–489 NOTES; [490] blank; [491] part title: PART TWO | The Ingenious Gentleman | DON QUIXOTE | DE LA MANCHA; [492] blank; 493–498 PART TWO: CONTENTS; 499–504 certificates, approbations, royal privilege; 505–508 Prologue | TO THE READER; 509–510 dedicatory letter; 511–988 text; 989–1036 NOTES; 1037–1043 BIBLIOGRAPHY; [1044] blank; [1045–1052] ML list; [1053–1054] ML Giants list; [1055–1056] blank. (Fall 1964) Note: Fall 1964 ML lists retained in subsequent printings.

Jacket: Pictorial in very light green (143), strong orange (50), light brown (57), light brownish gray (60) and black on coated white paper with ink-and-wash drawing of a mounted Don Quixote holding a lance with Sancho Panza following behind him on a donkey; lettering in black, all against very light green background; spine lettering (author, title, translator) in black on inset strong orange panel. Designed by Warren Chappell; unsigned.

Front flap:
This translation by Samuel Putnam—which has been greeted as a literary event of the first magnitude—captures for the first time in English the glory and the humor, the meaning and the feeling of the original. Don Quixote, the first modern novel, has for three and a half centuries maintained its place in the affections of every generation of readers. Its appeal is universal and inexhaustible—it has been called “the Bible of Humility” by the renowned French critic Saint-Beuve.
The Samuel Putnam translation is now available, complete and unabridged, in this handsomely printed one–volume edition, with a critical text based upon the first editions of 1605 and 1615, and with variant readings, variorum notes, and an Introduction by the translator.

Putnam translation originally published in two volumes by Viking Press, 1949. ML edition (pp. [v]–1043) printed from offset plates photographically reduced from the Viking edition. Published fall 1964. WR 2 November 1964. First printing: Not ascertained. Discontinued 1971/72.

The Putnam translation replaced Ozell’s revision of the Peter Motteux translation in MLG in spring 1965. The offset plates for the Giant are also photographically reduced from the Viking edition, but the larger format of the Giant made possible a smaller reduction and resulted in a far more readable book. The reduction in the text page of 197.2 is about 18 percent as opposed to about 8 percent for the Giant (G14.2).

197.2b. Title page with Fujita torchbearer; 7½ inch format (1969/70)

Title as 197.2a except line 12: [torchbearer K].

Pp. [i–vi] vii–xxx, [1–2] 3–1043 [1044–1058]. [1–17]³²

Contents as 197.2a except: [1055–1058] blank. (Fall 1964)

Jacket: Pictorial in deep reddish orange (36), strong brown (155) and black on coated white paper with ink-and-wash drawing as 197.2a with newly designed lettering in deep reddish orange, strong brown and black, all against white background.

Front flap as 197.2a.

Also in the Modern Library
Cervantes, Don Quixote (Giant, 1934– ) G14
Cervantes, Don Quixote, illus. Salvador Dali (Illustrated ML, 1946–1949) IML 16

198

H. L. MENCKEN. SELECTED PREJUDICES. 1930–1935. (ML 107)

198. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] SELECTED | PREJUDICES | [rule] | BY | H. L. MENCKEN | [rule] | [torchbearer A3] | [rule] | BENNETT A. CERF : DONALD S. KLOPFER | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [10], 1–166. [1–5]¹⁶ [6]⁸

[1] half title; [2] pub. note D5; [3] title; [4] Copyright, 1927, by ALFRED A. KNOPF | [short double rule] | First Modern Library Edition | 1930; [5] NOTE signed: H. L. M.; [6] blank; [7–8] CONTENTS; [9] fly title; [10] blank; 1–166 text.

Contents: High and Ghostly Matters – Bryan – Conrad – Beethoven – Three American Immortals – The Husbandman – The Politician – Totentanz – Birth Control – Lovely Letters – Portrait of an Immortal Soul – Types of Men – Memorial Service – On Living in Baltimore – Catechism.

Jacket: Uniform typographic jacket D. (Spring 1930).

Front flap:
The irrepressible H. L. Mencken cuts loose at his favorite bêtes noires with diabolical relish. He swings his bludgeon at matters divine and terrestrial, and, in passing, he thwacks the sit-spots of the respected and the revered, or bestows here and there an ungrudging accolade on the few who have attained the stature of titans. Prohibition, politics, pacifism, big business, beauty and birth control are among the targets for his shafts. In all, Selected Prejudices is a bristling and mordant commentary on the variegated world we live in. (Fall 1933)

Originally published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1927. ML edition (pp. [5]–166) printed from Knopf plates. Publication announced for July 1930. WR 6 September 1930. First printing: 6,000 copies. Discontinued 1 January1936.

The ML paid Knopf a $1,000 advance against royalties of 10 cents a copy. The first printing was completed 2 July 1930; a second printing of 1,000 copies was ordered in September 1933.

Fall

199

W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM. OF HUMAN BONDAGE. 1930– . (ML 176)

199.1a. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] OF | HUMAN BONDAGE | [rule] | BY | W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM | [rule] | [torchbearer A2] | [rule] | BENNETT A. CERF : DONALD S. KLOPFER | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [6], [1] 2–766. [1–23]¹⁶ [24]¹⁶(16+1.2)

[1] half title; [2] pub. note D5; [3] title; [4] Copyright, 1915, by the GEORGE F. DORAN CO. | [short double rule] | First Modern Library Edition | 1930; [5] fly title; [6] blank; [1]–766 text. Note: Pp. 763–766 are an inserted fold.

Jacket A: Uniform typographic jacket E with lettering and borders in black on moderate reddish orange (37) paper. (Fall 1930)

Front flap:
The history of W. Somerset Maugham’s masterpiece is a significant commentary on the changing and maturing taste in fiction. When it appeared in 1915, a few discerning critics hailed it as one of the first important novels of the twentieth century. For several years the public remained apathetic and the book almost suffered the fate of the casual novel. But its loyal champions fought to save it from oblivion. Today, no more popular novel exists in the English language. It has been one of the two best sellers in the entire Modern Library series for the last three years. (Fall 1933)

Jacket B: As jacket A except on coated light yellow (86) paper. (Fall 1939)

Originally published in U.S. by George H. Doran Co., 1915, and from 1927 by Doubleday, Doran & Co. ML edition (pp. [5]–766) printed from Doubleday, Doran plates made from a new typesetting. Published September 1930. WR 18 October 1930. First printing: 15,000 copies.

Cerf and Klopfer secured reprint rights in spring 1930 to four long-sought Doubleday titles—Of Human Bondage, Walpole’s Fortitude (201), Huxley’s Point Counter Point (203), and Bennett’s Old Wives’ Tale (207)—as part of a deal to buy the Sun Dial Library from Garden City Publishing Co., the Doubleday reprint subsidiary. The ML paid a $6,000 advance for Of Human Bondage and agreed to pay royalties of 12 cents a copy for each of the four titles, two cents more than it was then paying for any title with the exception of Dreiser’s Twelve Men (159). All four were added to the ML between September 1930 and January 1931. Doubleday’s new plates Of Human Bondage were originally intended for the ML’s exclusive use, but they were used for a printing by Garden City Publishing Co. around 1933.

In April 1968 the royalty increased from 12 cents a copy to 10 percent of the list price, which was then $2.45. Royalties on the Vintage paperback edition increased to 15 percent of the list price. RH paid a $30,000 advance against royalties for both editions. A third of the total was paid on signing, with subsequent payments of $10,000 due on1 January 1969 and 1 January 1970.

In 1968 the ML considered transferring Of Human Bondage to the Giants series, which would have involved photographing the book and making new plates. In the end it was decided to leave it in the regular ML.

Of Human Bondage was one of the ML’s perennial best-selling titles. It ranked eighth in terms of sales in 1930 despite its fall publication date, moved up to second place during the first six months of 1931 (RH box 117, Publicity file), and appears to have been in first place in 1934. Cerf reported sales for its first five years in the series as follows: 12,281 copies; 15,818 copies; 9,091 copies; 9,974 copies; and 11,277 copies (the figures appear to be for twelve-month periods but not calendar years). He indicated later that over 80,000 copies had been sold by the end of 1938 (Cerf to Kenneth Roberts, 23 November 1938; Cerf to Robert Lamont, Atlantic Monthly Press, 26 May 1939). During the 18-month period May 1942–October 1943 Of Human Bondage sold 18,505 copies, making it the best-selling title in the regular ML and the fourth best-selling title in the series as a whole. It sold 1,500 more copies than Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment (228), then the second best-selling title in the regular series. By the 12-month period November 1951–October 1952 it was the ML’s best-selling title with sales of 11,563 copies.

199.1b. Title page reset (c. 1940)

[torchbearer E3] | [5-line title and statement of responsibility within single rules] OF HUMAN | BONDAGE | BY | W. SOMERSET | MAUGHAM | [below frame] THE MODERN LIBRARY · NEW YORK

Pp. [6], [1–2] 3–766. [1–23]¹⁶ [24]¹⁶(16+1.2)

Contents as 199.1a except: [2] blank; [4] COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY GEORGE H. DORAN CO. Note: Page numeral “2” removed from plates; pp. 733‑766 are an inserted fold.

Variant: Pp. [6], [1–2] 3–766 [767–778]. [1–24]¹⁶ [25]⁸. Contents as 199.1b except: [767–772] ML list; [773–774] ML Giants list; [775–776] blank. (Fall 1944)

Jacket: Pictorial in vivid reddish orange (34) and black on coated white paper depicting a man in hat with London buildings in the background and sky in shades of vivid reddish orange; author and title in black against vivid reddish orange background, series in vivid reddish orange at foot.

Front flap as 199.1a. (Spring 1941)

199.2. Text reset (1946)

OF HUMAN | BONDAGE | BY | W. SOMERSET | MAUGHAM | [torchbearer D4 at right; 3-line imprint at left] THE | MODERN LIBRARY | NEW YORK | [rule]

Pp. [4], [1–2] 3–760 [761–764]. [1–24]¹⁶

[1] half title; [2] blank; [3] title; [4] COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY GEORGE H. DORAN CO.; [1] fly title; [2] blank; 3–760 text; [761–764] blank.

Variant: Pagination as 199.2. [1]¹⁶ [2–12]³² [13]¹⁶. Contents as 199.2 except: [4] COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY GEORGE H. DORAN CO. | RENEWED, 1942, BY W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM; [761–762] ML Giants list; [763–764] blank. (Spring 1963)

Jacket: As 199.1b. (Spring 1946)

Front flap reset with last sentence removed. (Fall 1957)

The plates for Of Human Bondage and Maugham’s Moon and Sixpence (283) were becoming worn by 1944 and Haas decided to make new plates for both titles. Freiman contacted Doubleday, Doran to determine whether it was willing to supply new plates or at least pay part of the cost (Freiman memo to Haas, 13 November 1944). Doubleday, Doran agreed to reset and make new plates for both titles at its own expense as long as the ML agreed to keep them in print and promote them aggressively for at least ten years (Cedric R. Crowell, Doubleday, Doran, to Commins, 2 January 1945). The new plates were delivered to the ML’s printers in December 1945. The ML instructed Parkway Printing Co. to dispose of the old plates and use the new ones for all future printings (Regina Spirito to Bill Simon, Parkway Printing, 13 December 1945).

199.3a. Text reset; offset printing (1966/67)

OF HUMAN | BONDAGE | [double rule] | by | W. Somerset Maugham | [torchbearer J] | THE MODERN LIBRARY | NEW YORK

Pp. [6], 1–684 [685–698]. [1]¹⁶ [2–11]³² [12]¹⁶

[1] half title; [2] blank; [3] title; [4] Copyright, 1915 by Doubleday & Company, Inc. | Renewed, 1942 by W. Somerset Maugham; [5] fly title; [6] blank; 1–684 text; [685–692] ML list; [693–694] ML Giants list; [695–698] blank. (Fall 1966) Note: Fall 1966 lists were retained in subsequent printings.

Jacket: Fujita non-pictorial jacket on coated white paper with lettering in vivid yellowish green (129), deep reddish purple (238) and black, all against white background.

Front flap:
Of Human Bondage has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language since its original publication in 1915. Its description of the impact of the British public school system on the growth of an individual is still a definitive one. The torment of a young man involved in an obsessive and destructive love is delineated with compassion and insight, making this one of the most intelligent and important statements on the process of self-discovery. Maugham’s gift as a storyteller has never been more clearly demonstrated.

In April 1968, when the list price was $2.45, the ML increased the royalty rate from 12 cents a copy to 10 percent of the list price. The new reprint contract also called for a 15 percent royalty on the Vintage paperback edition and a $30,000 advance against royalties for both editions. Even with the higher royalty Of Human Bondage remained a profitable title for the ML (John J. Simon, memo to Tony Wimpfeimer, 14 May 1968).

199.3b. Title page with Fujita torchbearer; 7½ inch format (1969/70)

Title as 199.3a except line 6: [torchbearer K].

Pagination as 199.3a. [1–22]¹⁶

Contents as 199.3a.

Jacket: Enlarged version of 199.3a.

Also in the Modern Library
Maugham, Moon and Sixpence (1935–1971) 283
Maugham, Cakes and Ale (1950–1970) 428
Maugham, Best Short Stories (1957– ) 491

200

JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE. FAUST. 1930–1973. (ML 177)

200a. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] FAUST | [rule] | BY | JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE | [rule] | TRANSLATED, | IN THE ORIGINAL METRES, | BY BAYARD TAYLOR | [rule] | [torchbearer A3] | [rule] | BENNETT A. CERF : DONALD S. KLOPFER | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [i–iv] v–xx [xxi–xxii], 1–179 [180]; [i] ii–xiv, [1] 2–258 [259–264]. [1–15]¹⁶

[i] half title; [ii] pub. note D9; [iii] title; [iv] Copyright, 1870, by Bayard Taylor | Copyright, 1898 and 1912, by Marie Hansen Taylor | [short double rule] | FIRST MODERN LIBRARY EDITION | 1930; v–xvii PREFACE. [by Bayard Taylor]; [xviii] blank; [xix]–xx CONTENTS.; [xxi] AN GOETHE. signed: B. T.; [xxii] blank; 1–179 text; [180] blank; [i]–xi PART II. | INTRODUCTION. signed p. xi: B. T. | March, 1871.; [xii] blank; [xiii]–xiv CONTENTS. | SECOND PART OF THE TRAGEDY.; [1]–258 text; [259–262] ML list; [263–264] blank. (Fall 1930) Note: First statement retained on printings through fall 1933.

Jacket: Pictorial in deep purplish red (256) and black on cream paper with illustration of a bearded Faust holding a large book with a retort and beaker in the foreground; borders in deep purplish red, lettering in black. Signed: Wuyts. (Fall 1930)

Front flap:
Readers, critics and commentators have found Faust inexhaustible in its new and illuminating riches. For a century and a quarter it has held its place among the world’s treasures. The variety and beauty of its plan and the depth of its implications give it the immortality for which its central character bargained with his soul. Faust remains the personification of humanity, tempted and tormented, groping toward the light. Of the fifty translations of the masterpiece, Bayard Taylor’s, in the original metres, most completely retains Goethe’s intention and spirit. (Fall 1933)

Bayard Taylor translation originally published in two volumes by Fields, Osgood & Co. and its successor, James R. Osgood & Co., 1870–71; subsequently published by Houghton Mifflin Co. ML edition published by arrangement with Houghton Mifflin. Published September 1930. WR 18 October 1930. First printing: Not ascertained. Discontinued 1973/74.

Faust was in the second quarter of ML titles in terms of sales during the 18-month period May 1942–October 1943. It ranked low in the first quarter of ML titles during the 12-month period November 1951–October 1952.

200b. Title page reset (c. 1940)

FAUST | BY | JOHANN WOLFGANG | VON GOETHE | TRANSLATED, | IN THE ORIGINAL METRES, BY | BAYARD TAYLOR | [torchbearer E1] | [rule] | MODERN LIBRARY · NEW YORK | [rule]

Pagination as 200a. [1–14]¹⁶ [15–16]⁸

Contents as 200a except: [ii] blank; [iv] COPYRIGHT, 1870, BY BAYARD TAYLOR | COPYRIGHT, 1898, AND 1912, | BY MARIE HANSEN TAYLOR; [259–263] ML list; [264] blank. (Spring 1941)

Jacket: Pictorial in deep red (13) with black on coated white paper with still-life drawing of hourglass, books, theatrical mask, candlestick, and scythe in black and white; lettering in reverse, all against deep red background. Designed by Paul Galdone, May 1939; unsigned.

Front flap as 200a. (Spring 1941)

200c. Lange introduction added (1950)

Faust | A TRAGEDY | By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe | Translated, in the original meters, | by Bayard Taylor | [ornament] | INTRODUCTION BY | VICTOR LANGE | Professor of German Language and Literature, | Chairman of German Studies, | Cornell University | [torchbearer E5] | THE MODERN LIBRARY · NEW YORK

Pp. [i–iv] v–xxiv, 1–179 [180]; [i] ii, [1] 2–258. [1–13]¹⁶ [14]⁸ [15]¹⁶

[i] half title; [ii] blank; [iii] title; [iv] Copyright, 1950, by Random House, Inc. | COPYRIGHT, 1870, BY BAYARD TAYLOR | COPYRIGHT, 1898 AND 1912, | BY MARIE HANSEN TAYLOR; v–xxi INTRODUCTION | By Victor Lange; xxii BIBLIOGRAPHY; [xxiii]–xxiv CONTENTS OF THE | FIRST PART OF THE TRAGEDY; 1–179 text; [180] blank; [i]–ii CONTENTS OF THE | SECOND PART OF THE TRAGEDY; [1]–258 text.

Jacket: As 200b. (Spring 1951)

Front flap slightly revised. (Fall 1956)

Originally published 1950 in MLCE and subsequently in the regular ML. Lange received $150 for his introduction (Stein to Lange, 25 January 1950). Stein noted that he wanted to drop three items by Taylor: the preface to Part I, which dealt with problems of the translation, the introduction to Part II, which was a general commentary, and the poem “An Goethe.” He suggested that anything pertinent in Taylor’s preface and introduction should be included in Lange’s introduction (Stein to Lange, 27 January 1950).

200d. Title page reset; offset printing (1967)

FAUST | A Tragedy | [rule] | By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe | Translated, in the original meters, | by Bayard Taylor | Introduction By | VICTOR LANGE | PROFESSOR OF GERMAN LITERATURE, | CHAIRMAN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF GERMAN, | PRINCETON UNIVERSITY | [torchbearer J] | THE MODERN LIBRARY | New York

Pp. [i–iv] v–xxiv [xxv–xxvi], 1–179 [180]; [xiii] xiv, [1] 2–258 [259–272]. [1]¹⁶ [2–6]³² [7]¹⁶ [8]³² [9]¹⁶

Contents as 200c except: [iv] Copyright, © 1967, 1950, by Random House, Inc. | Copyright, 1870, by Bayard Taylor | Copyright, 1898 and 1912, by Marie Hansen Taylor; [xxii] blank; [xxiii]–xxiv BIBLIOGRAPHY [updated from 200c]; [xxv–xxvi] CONTENTS OF THE | FIRST PART OF THE TRAGEDY; [xiii]–xiv CONTENTS OF THE | SECOND PART OF THE TRAGEDY; [259–266] ML list; [267–268] ML Giants list; [ 269–272] blank. (Fall 1966) Note: Page numeral removed from contents of Part I; fall 1966 ML lists retained on subsequent printings.

Jacket: Fujita non-pictorial jacket on coated white paper with lettering in black and decoration in deep brown (56), all against white background.

Front flap slightly revised and abridged from 200c.

Also in the Modern Library
Goethe, Sorrows of Young Werther & Novella (1984– ) 638

201

HUGH WALPOLE. FORTITUDE. 1930–1971. (ML 178)

201.1. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] FORTITUDE | [rule] | BY | HUGH WALPOLE | [rule] | INTRODUCTION BY | HUGH WALPOLE | [rule] | [torchbearer A2] | [rule] | BENNETT A. CERF : DONALD S. KLOPFER | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [6], v–x, [7–10] 11–484 [485–490]. [1–15]¹⁶ [16]⁸

[1] half title; [2] pub. note A6; [3] title; [4] Copyright, 1913, BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY | [short double rule] | Introduction Copyright, 1930, BY THE MODERN | LIBRARY, INC. | [short double rule] | First Modern Library Edition | 1930; [5] dedication; [6] blank; v–x A PREFACE TO FORTITUDE | BY | Hugh Walpole signed p. x: Hugh Walpole. | London, 1930.; [7–8] CONTENTS; [9] part title: BOOK I | SCAW HOUSE; [10] blank; 11–484 text; [485–488] ML list; [489–490] blank. (Fall 1930)

Jacket: Pictorial in dark bluish green (165) and black on cream paper with stylized illustration of a face in left profile, a book, a skull, and a figure riding a lion; borders in dark bluish green, lettering in black. Signed: Loeffel. (Fall 1930)

Originally published in U.S. by George H. Doran Co., 1913, and from 1927 by Doubleday, Doran & Co. ML edition (201.1, pp. [5], [7]–484) printed from Doubleday, Doran plates. Published October 1930. WR 8 November 1930. First printing: 6,000 copies. Discontinued 1971/72.

Fortitude was one of four Doubleday titles to which the ML secured reprint rights at the time it purchased the Sun Dial Library from Garden City Publishing Co. (see 199). The ML paid Doubleday, Doran royalties of 12 cents a copy. Cerf told the press agent Lynn Farnol that Walpole received the highest advance against royalties that the ML had ever paid (Cerf to Farnol, 14 May 1941), but the amount was not indicated—and of course the advance would have been paid to Doubleday, Doran, which would have split it with Walpole.

Cerf was unhappy with the appearance of the first printing. The plates, he told Doubleday, “are lousy, and we need some new ones” (Cerf to Robert de Graff, Garden City Pub. Co., 5 November 1930). When he sent a copy of the first printing to Walpole he apologized for its appearance and indicated that Doubleday had promised to supply new plates for subsequent printings (Cerf to Walpole, 26 November 1930).

Fortitude was in the middle of the fourth quarter of ML titles in terms of sales during the 18-month period May 1942–October 1943. It was not among the 100 best-selling titles in the regular ML during the 12-month period November 1951–October 1952.

201.2a. Text reset (1931)

Title as 201.1.

Pp. [i–vi] vii–xiv, [1–2] 3–497 [498]. [1–16]¹⁶

[i] half title; [ii] pub. note D7; [iii] title; [iv] Copyright, 1913, BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY | [short double rule] | Introduction Copyright, 1930, BY THE MODERN | LIBRARY, INC.; [v] dedication; [vi] blank; vii–xi A PREFACE TO FORTITUDE | BY | Hugh Walpole signed p. xi: Hugh Walpole. | London, 1930.; [xii] blank; xiii–xiv CONTENTS; [1] part title: BOOK I | SCAW HOUSE; [2] blank; 3–497 text; [498] blank.

Jacket: As 201.1. (Spring 1931)

Front flap:
In the whole imposing list of novels written by Hugh Walpole there is none that has reached and maintained the popularity of Fortitude. The absorbing interest of its romantic story, its enthusiasm and its conviction make of it a rare phenomenon among books in an epoch of uncompromising realism. That it is Mr. Walpole’s favorite among all his novels can be readily understood. He says of it: “Fortitude is a romance—a fairy-tale about a young man who very naively believed in almost everything.” (Fall 1934)

Printed from Doubleday, Doran plates made from a new typesetting. The plates appear to have been used exclusively by the ML. First printing from the new plates: 5,000 copies.

All subsequent ML printings were from the new plates. The second and third printings from these plates in September 1934 and April 1936 were for 2,000 copies each. Sales declined significantly by the 1960s; 1967 sales were 600 copies.

201.2b. Title page reset (c. 1940)

Fortitude | BY HUGH WALPOLE | INTRODUCTION BY HUGH WALPOLE | [torchbearer D4] | [rule] | THE MODERN LIBRARY · NEW YORK | [rule]

Pagination and collation as 201.2a.

Contents as 201.2a except: [ii] blank; [iv] COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY | INTRODUCTION COPYRIGHT, 1930, | BY THE MODERN LIBRARY, INC.

Jacket: Non-pictorial in strong purplish blue (196) on cream paper with lettering and torchbearer in reverse against solid strong purplish blue background.

Front flap as 201.2a. (Fall 1943) Front flap slightly revised. (Fall 1958)

202

G. F. YOUNG. THE MEDICI. 1930–1971. (ML 179)

202a. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] THE MEDICI | [rule] | BY | COLONEL G. F. YOUNG, C.B. | [rule] | [torchbearer A2] | [rule] | BENNETT A. CERF : DONALD S. KLOPFER | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [i–vi] vii–xxi [xxii], [2], 1–824. [1–26]¹⁶ [27]⁸

[i] half title; [ii] pub. note D5; [iii] title; [iv] Copyright, 1930, by THE MODERN LIBRARY, INC. | [short double rule] | First Modern Library Edition | 1930 | [epigraphs from Ovid and Cicero]; [v] dedication; [vi] epigraph from Andrew Lang; vii–xiii PREFACE signed p. xiii: G. F. Y. | Florence, 12th October 1910.; [xiv] blank; xv–xvi CONTENTS; [xvii] CONTEMPORARY HISTORICAL EVENTS; [xviii] blank; xix–xxi AUTHORITIES CONSULTED; [xxii] blank; [1] fly title; [2] blank; 1–758 text; 759–824 NOTES.

Jacket: Pictorial in strong brown (55) and black on coated white paper depicting man with hat in left profile; borders in strong brown (top) and black (foot), lettering in black. Signed: EMcKK (E. McKnight Kauffer). (Fall 1930)

Originally published in U.S. by E. P. Dutton (2 vols., 1909). ML edition printed from plates made from a new typesetting. Published October 1930. WR 8 November 1930. First printing: Not ascertained. Discontinued 1971/72.

In its advertising the ML emphasized, “This book has been available only in two bulky volumes, that sold for ten dollars and over” (PW 118, 16 August 1930, p. 574).

Shortly after the ML edition appeared Cerf authorized Garden City Publishing Co., the Doubleday, Doran reprint subsidiary, to make a duplicate set of the ML’s plates for a fee of $1,000. Garden City was planning to publish The Medici under its Star Dollar Books imprint (Cerf to Robert de Graff, Garden City, 30 December 1930). No evidence of a printing in Star Dollar Books or any other Doubleday imprint has been found.

Charles Boni used the ML plates in 1930 for a single printing of The Medici in the format the ML would adopt the following year for the new ML Giants series. Later that year Cerf and Klopfer bought the remaining stock from A. & C. Boni and sold it along with a printing of The Education of Henry Adams that they had produced in a similar format. The books were printed in editions of 1,500 each and were marketed to department stores as dollar “specials.”

An illustrated edition of The Medici (G8), printed from plates of the regular ML edition, was published in ML Giants, 1933–49.

The Medici was one of several titles that were omitted from a comprehensive ranking of ML sales for the 18-month period May 1942–October 1943. The regular ML edition sold 3,300 copies during the 12-month period November 1951–October 1952, placing it in the second quarter of ML titles in terms of sales.

202b. Title page reset (c. 1940)

[torchbearer E3] | [4-line title and statement of responsibility within single rules] THE | MEDICI | BY | Col. G. F. Young, C.  B. | [below frame] THE MODERN LIBRARY · NEW YORK

Pagination and collation as 202a.

Contents as 202a except: [ii] blank; [iv] COPYRIGHT, 1930, BY THE MODERN LIBRARY, INC. | [epigraphs from Ovid and Cicero].

Variant: Pagination as 201a. [1]¹⁶ [2–12]³² [13]⁸ [14]³² [15]¹⁶. Contents as 202b except: [iv] copyright statement omitted. (1960s binding B)

Jacket: Adapted from 202a jacket with borders omitted and author in reverse on strong brown band at foot.

Front flap:
The legends which have clustered about the most notable family in history are as various as the imaginations and prejudices of historians. Sinister crimes, magnificent liberalities, prodigal sponsorship of the arts, religious and orgiastic excesses have been attributed indiscriminately to the Medicis. It remained for G. F. Young to sift the proven facts from the exaggerations and to present a history so authentic and yet so colorful that its truth is more enthralling than all the fictions the centuries have allowed to accumulate around the most fabulous family of the Renaissance. (Fall 1941)

Also in the Modern Library
Young, The Medici, with 32 illustrations reproduced in aquatone (Giant, 1933–1946) G8

203

ALDOUS HUXLEY. POINT COUNTER POINT. 1930–1967. (ML 180)

203a. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] POINT COUNTER | POINT | [rule] | BY | ALDOUS HUXLEY | [rule] | [torchbearer A3] | [rule] | BENNETT A. CERF : DONALD S. KLOPFER | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [6], [1] 2–514. [1–16]¹⁶ [17]⁴

[1] half title; [2] pub. note D5; [3] title; [4] Copyright, 1928, by DOUBLEDAY DORAN & CO. | [short double rule] | First Modern Library Edition | 1930; [5] fly title; [6] blank; [1]–514 text.

Jacket: Non-pictorial in strong reddish orange (35), moderate greenish blue (173) and black on cream paper with title in ornamental lettering in strong reddish orange, moderate greenish blue and black; borders in moderate greenish blue and strong reddish orange, other lettering in black, all against cream background. Signed: EMcKK (E. McKnight Kauffer). (Fall 1930)

Front flap:
The rational and the fantastic characters who form a processional across the pages of Point Counter Point belong to today’s world. They are modern in their promiscuities and in the refinements of their virtues and their vices; they are always reckless in their spiritual and carnal experiences. Point Counter Point is in the staccato tempo of our time, a colorful symphony, full of extravagant and fascinating tonalities, shrewd commentaries and graceful embellishments. It is, above all, a sophisticated novel for a sophisticated age. (Fall 1936)

Originally published in U.S. by Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1928. ML edition printed from Doubleday, Doran plates made from a new typesetting that appears to have been used exclusively by the ML. Published November 1930. WR 29 November 1930. First printing: 10,000 copies. Discontinued 1967.

Point Counter Point was one of four Doubleday titles to which the ML secured reprint rights at the time it purchased the Sun Dial Library from Garden City Publishing Co. (see 199). The ML paid Doubleday, Doran a $3,000 advance against royalties of 12 cents a copy. Most ML royalties were based on the number of copies printed; the royalties for Point Counter Point were based on sales.

There was a second printing of 5,000 copies in August 1931 and a third printing of 4,000 copies in November 1932. Point Counter Point was low in the first quarter of ML titles in terms of sales during the 18-month period May 1942–October 1943. Sales improved significantly by the early 1950s. During the 12-month period November 1951–October 1952 Point Counter Point was the 27th best-selling title in the ML.

In 1939 Doubleday, Doran sold its plates and the publishing rights to Huxley’s older books to Harper & Bros. Cerf expressed the hope that Point Counter Point and Antic Hay could remain in the ML “for a long time to come” (Cerf to Henry Hoyns, Harper & Bros., 27 February 1939). Harper’s considered publishing the titles in full-priced editions at $2.50 and was concerned about the income it could expect from the ML editions. Unless the income was substantial, Hoyns indicated, the ML editions “might turn out to be a very unprofitable arrangement from our point of view” (Hoyns to Klopfer, 17 March 1939).

Klopfer and Hoyns met over lunch to discuss the matter. Shortly before the meeting Klopfer wrote directly to Huxley, who was a personal friend: “Help, help, Harper’s are threatening to take POINT COUNTER POINT and ANTIC HAY away from us. These two books belong in the Modern Library and it would be a crime not to have them available in a cheaper edition. . . . Could you influence the Harper office in any way in our favor? I am having lunch with Hoyns later this week, and I hope we can make a deal with him without bothering you, but I do want to make a strong plea to have these books available in the small size inexpensive reprint, rather than just in the $2.50 library, deluxe size” (Klopfer to Huxley, 20 March 1939).

Klopfer’s appeal appears to have been successful. Following the lunch Klopfer sent Hoyns new five-year contracts for the books. The Point Counter Point contract called for the ML to pay a $1,200 advance against royalties of 12 cents a copy and included a special clause that allowed Harper’s to cancel the contract if the ML could not undertake a reprint of at least 5,000 copies after three years.

In 1965 Harper & Row gave six months’ notice that the ML contract was being terminated so that Point Counter Point could be included in its own hardbound series, Perennial Classics (Virginia Olson, Harper & Row, to Epstein, 23 July 1965). The ML was allowed to sell out its stock on hand, which consisted of 4,400 copies (Epstein to Olson, 9 August 1965). The ML edition was out of stock by summer 1967.

203b. Title page reset (1940)

[within single rules] [6-line title and statement of responsibility within second set of single rules] POINT | COUNTER | POINT | BY | ALDOUS | HUXLEY | [below inner frame: torchbearer D5 at right; 3-line imprint at left] THE | MODERN LIBRARY | NEW YORK

Pp. [6], [1] 2–514 [515–522]. [1–16]¹⁶ [17]⁸

Contents as 203a except: [2] blank; [4] COPYRIGHT, 1928, BY DOUBLEDAY DORAN & COMPANY; [515–519] ML list; [520–521] ML Giants list; [522] blank. (Fall 1942)

Jacket: Enlarged version of 203a on coated white paper with signature “EMcKK” removed. Front flap as 203a. (Fall 1940)

Front flap revised:
The rational and the irrational characters who form a processional across the pages of Point Counter Point belong to today’s frantic world. They are modern in their promiscuities and in the pleasure they take in their vices and their virtues; they are reckless and indifferent to consequences. Point Counter Point captures the staccato tempo of our time. It is full of extravagant and fascinating improvisation, shrewd commentaries and graceful ornamentation. It is a sophisticated novel for a sophisticated age and the freshness of its point of view appeals to the young in spirit. (Spring 1962)

Also in the Modern Library
Huxley, Antic Hay (1933– ) 252
Huxley, Brave New World (1956–1967) 485

204

PLATO. THE WORKS OF PLATO. 1930– . (ML 181)

204a. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] THE WORKS OF | PLATO | [rule] | SELECTED AND EDITED | BY | IRWIN EDMAN | [rule] | [torchbearer A3] | [rule] | BENNETT A. CERF : DONALD S. KLOPFER | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [i–vi] vii–xlviii, [1–2] 3–577 [578–584]. [1–19]¹⁶ [20]¹²

[i] half title; [ii] pub. note D10; [iii] title; [iv] Copyright, 1928, by Simon and Schuster, Inc. | [short double rule] | FIRST MODERN LIBRARY EDITION | 1930; [v] acknowledgment; [vi] blank; vii–viii PREFACE signed p. viii: Irwin Edman. | Columbia University, | September, 1927.; [ix] TABLE OF CONTENTS; [x] blank; xi–xlviii INTRODUCTION | THE DIALOGUES AS PHILOSOPHICAL DRAMA; [1] part title: LYSIS; [2] blank; 3–577 text; [578] blank; [579] part title: BIBLIOGRAPHY; [580] blank; [581] BIBLIOGRAPHY; [582–584] blank.

Contents: Lysis – Euthyphro – Apology – Crito – Phaedo – Protagoras – Phaedrus – Symposium – The Republic – Theaetetus.

Variant: Pp. [i–vi] vii–xlviii, [1–2] 3–577 [578–592]. [1–20]¹⁶. Contents as 204a except: [ii] pub. note A7; [582] blank; [583–587] ML list; [588–589] ML Giants list; [590–592] blank. (Spring 1939)

Jacket A: Uniform typographic jacket D. Jacket title: THE PHILOSOPHY OF PLATO. (Fall 1930)

Jacket B: Uniform philosophy jacket. Jacket title: THE PHILOSOPHY OF PLATO.

Front flap:
The philosopher of idealism, Plato remains the spokesman for all those who are perennially young in their love of wisdom and their curiosity about the mysteries of the human soul. The poetic charm and the dramatic suggestiveness of his writings lend persuasion to Plato’s central theme—the clarification and harmonizing of life by reason. Under the brilliant editorship of Irwin Edman, the Modern Library edition of The Philosophy of Plato, in the Jewett Translation, is the most comprehensive collection of Plato’s works issued in a single volume. (Fall 1935)

Jacket C: Pictorial in strong yellowish pink 26), silver and black on coated cream paper with drawing of Plato on inset silver circle and lettering in black, all on panel in strong yellowish pink with borders in silver. Jacket title: THE PHILOSOPHY OF PLATO. Statement at foot of front panel: EDITED BY IRWIN EDMAN | The JOWETT Translation, edited and with an | introduction by Irwin Edman. Front flap as jacket B. (Spring 1939)

Edman’s edition of The Works of Plato was originally published by Simon and Schuster, 1928. ML edition printed from plates made from a new typesetting. Published November 1930. WR 29 November 1930. First printing: Not ascertained.

Edman’s selection included ten dialogues from the third edition of The Dialogues of Plato, translated into English with introductions and analyses by B. Jowett (5 vols., Oxford University Press, 1892). Edman omitted Jowett’s lengthy introductions and analyses, but the Simon and Schuster edition retains Jowett’s marginal notes. Fourteen dialogues were omitted. Simon and Schuster used the word “abridged” on the title page; the ML title page, which indicates that the volume was “selected and edited” by Edman, was clearer and more accurate.

The Simon and Schuster plates were too wide for the ML’s format. The ML reset the entire work, omitting the marginal notes. The ML paid Simon and Schuster royalties of 7 cents a copy, of which Edman appears to have received 5 cents.

The Works of Plato sold 10,848 copies during the 18-month period May 1942–October 1943, making it the 26th best-selling title in the ML. Sales were even better in the early 1950s. During the 12-month period November 1951–October 1952 it was the ML’s eighth best-selling title.

204b. Title page reset (c. 1940)

THE WORKS | OF PLATO | SELECTED AND EDITED | BY IRWIN EDMAN | [torchbearer D1 at right; 3-line imprint at left] THE | MODERN LIBRARY | NEW YORK | [rule]

Pagination and collation as 204a variant.

Contents as 204a variant except: [ii] blank; [iv] COPYRIGHT, 1928, BY SIMON AND SCHUSTER, INC. (Fall 1942)

Variant: Pagination as 204a variant. [1]¹⁶ [2–10]³² [11]¹⁶. Contents as 204b except: [iv] COPYRIGHT, 1928, BY SIMON AND SCHUSTER, INC. | COPYRIGHT, 1956, BY META MARKEL; [583–588] ML list; [589–590] ML Giants list; [591] American College Dictionary advertisement; [592] blank. (Spring 1960)

Jacket D: Enlarged version of 204a jacket C except statement at foot of front panel revised: THE JOWETT TRANSLATION | Edited and with an introduction by Irwin Edman (Fall 1945). The last sentence of the front flap is slightly revised: “Under the brilliant editorship of Irwin Edman, the Modern Library edition of The Philosophy of Plato, in the Jowett Translation, contains in its more than 600 pages ten dialogues and is one of the most comprehensive collections of Plato’s works issued in a single volume.” (Fall 1955)

204c. Title page reset; offset printing (1967)

THE WORKS | OF PLATO | Selected and Edited | By Irwin Edman | [torchbearer J] | THE MODERN LIBRARY | NEW YORK

Pagination as 204a variant. [1]¹⁶ [2–10]³² [11]¹⁶

Contents as 204b except: [iv] Copyright, 1928, by Simon and Schuster, Inc. | Copyright renewed, 1956, by Meta Markel; [583–590] ML list; [591–592] ML Giants list. (Fall 1966)

Jacket E: Fujita non-pictorial jacket with lettering in strong green (141) and black on inset deep brown (56) panel on coated white paper. Jacket title: The Works of Plato. This was the first 204 jacket to record the title as it appeared on the title page and binding.

Front and back flaps:
“. . . in these writings, unique at once in the history of literature and the history of philosophy, [the reader] meets thought whose medium is not dogma but drama, drama among whose chief excitements are the subtle suspenses of thought. . . . The ‘philosophy’ of Plato is clearly not a philosophy of the schools; his drama is profounder in theme and more comprehensive in range than the constricted little toys of the stage. For those who have not learned with Plato that philosophy is the love of wisdom rather than the pronouncement of truth, there is considerable mystification in a thinker whose thoughts are all suggestions, whose suggestions are often playful, and who will not, despite the attempt of more than one serious critic, be crammed into a neat and lifeless system. The reader is haunted, too, by the perturbed sense that, though these dialogues are full of endless charm as poetic and ironic drama, they are clearly more than the by-play of a gifted writer. The further one reads the more deeply does one come into the presence of the profoundest and most serious issues of human existence. What on its winning surface is the spirited conversation between Socrates and a group of attractive young Athenian aristocrats, closely read, stirs one profoundly to a consideration of the nature of good and evil, of reality, of the paramount mystery of the human soul.” —from the Introduction by Irwin Edman

204d. Title page with Fujita torchbearer (early 1970s)

Title as 204c except line 5: [torchbearer K].

Pagination as 204a variant. Collation as 204c.

Contents as 204c.

Jacket: As 204c with ISBN 0-394-60181-5 added to back panel.

204e. Reissue format (1977)

Title as 204c except line 5: [torchbearer M].

Pagination as 204a variant. Perfect bound.

Contents as 204c except: [582–592] blank.

Jacket: Non-pictorial on kraft paper with lettering in deep reddish brown (44) and torchbearer in deep brown (56). Designed by R. D. Scudellari. Jacket title: The Works of Plato.

Front and back flaps as 204c.

Published spring 1977 at $5.95. ISBN 0-394-60420-2.

Also in the Modern Library
Plato, The Republic (1941– ) 342

205

ROCKWELL KENT. WILDERNESS. 1930–1939. (ML 182)

205. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] WILDERNESS | A JOURNAL OF QUIET ADVENTURE | IN ALASKA : BY | ROCKWELL KENT | [ornament] | WITH A NEW PREFACE BY | THE AUTHOR | [rule] | [illustration] | [rule] | Bennett A. Cerf & Donald S. Klopfer | THE MODERN LIBRARY, PUBLISHERS | NEW YORK

Pp. [2], [i–iv] v–xiii [xiv], 1–243 [244]. [1–7]¹⁶ [8]¹⁶(16+1.2).

[1] blank; [2] frontispiece illustration titled: ROCKWELL | ALASKA MCMXVIII; [i] title; [ii] Copyright 1920 by Rockwell Kent | “A Second Preface” copyright 1930 by | The Modern Library, Inc. | [torchbearer B] | First Modern Library edition | 1930; [iii] dedication; [iv] blank; v–vi PREFACE signed p. vi: R. K. | Arlington, Vermont, | December, 1919.; vii–viii A SECOND PREFACE | Eleven Years Later signed p. viii: R. K. Ausable Forks, N. Y. 1930; ix CONTENTS; [x] blank; xi–xiii ILLUSTRATIONS; [xiv] blank; 1–243 text; [244] blank. Note: Pp. 241–[244] are an inserted fold.

Endpapers: Pictorial endpapers by Kent headed: Chart of the entrance to RESVRRECTION BAY, ALASKA, Kenai Peninsula. Photographically reduced from the endpapers of the Putnam edition. Wilderness was the second ML title to appear in balloon cloth binding C without Kent’s grapevine design on the spine of the binding (see “Binding” in the introductory matter to 1930 entries).

Jacket: Pictorial in deep reddish orange (36) and black on cream paper depicting a man and boy looming above the horizon; borders in black, lettering in deep reddish orange. Designed by Kent; unsigned. (Fall 1930)

Front flap:
More than a record of an adventure in solitude, Wilderness is a book that re-creates the wonder and the tranquillity of an untracked world. The hand and heart and mind of a distinguished artist combine, in prose and pictures, to convey the topography and the moods, the changing vistas and the dramatic silences of the sub-Arctic region. Rockwell Kent’s text, embellished by more than fifty pictures from his pen, has the excitement of a quest that attains the nearest paradise man can hope for on earth. (Spring 1934)

Originally published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1920, in a volume measuring approximately 11½ x 8 in. (280 x 200 mm). ML edition printed from plates made from a new typesetting with revisions by the author and the original introduction by Dorothy Canfield replaced by Kent’s “Second Preface: Eleven Years Later.” The ML also omits p. [v] of the Putnam edition which acknowledges the owners of the illustrations reproduced in the volume. Published December 1930. WR 27 December 1930. First printing: Not ascertained. Discontinued spring 1939.

The Putnam plates were far too large for the ML’s format. The announcement of the ML edition stated, “For the Modern Library Edition, Rockwell Kent has written a new introduction and made important revisions in the text. The volume contains all the Kent illustrations that appear in the six dollar edition” (PW 118, 16 August 1930, p. 574). Kent notes in his preface to the ML edition that he has restored “two lines of a German folk-song that my original publishers . . . in the fervor of post-war patriotism, secretly deleted, and subsequently would not put back. They appear on page 68, and mean: ‘Good moon, you go so quietly through the evening clouds’” (p. viii). The two lines appear under the heading “Friday, October eighteenth”:

The ML typesetting uses a sans-serif typeface that suits the ML’s smaller format and is more attractive than the traditional type of the Putnam edition. However, Kent’s illustrations are reduced in size by about a half, obscuring some of the detail. The ML edition includes all of the illustrations in the Putnam edition. The Kent illustration on the title page of the ML edition appears on the front panel of the Putnam binding.

The ML edition sold a total of 12,960 copies (James Silberman memo to Angus Cameron, 6 December 1965). The ML did not have exclusive reprint rights, and the ML edition was undermined by a full-sized $1.49 reprint published by Blue Ribbon Books in 1936. Kent was unaware that Putnam was planning to discontinue the original edition, and the ML was not consulted about the $1.49 reprint (Cerf to Kent, 2 June 1939). Sales of the ML edition in 1937-38 totaled less than 800 copies (Cerf to Kent, 2 June 1939). Kent bought 240 copies of the discontinued ML edition at twenty-five cents each (Kent to Cerf, 8 June 1939).

Also in the Modern Library
Melville, Moby Dick, illus. Rockwell Kent (Giant, 1944–1962; 1982– ) G65

206

J. K. HUYSMANS. AGAINST THE GRAIN. 1930–1937. (ML 183)

206. First printing (1930)

[within double rules] AGAINST THE GRAIN | [within square brackets] A REBOURS | [rule] | BY | J. K. HUYSMANS | [rule] | WITH AN INTRODUCTION | BY | HAVELOCK ELLIS | [rule] | [torchbearer A3] | [rule] | THE MODERN LIBRARY | PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK

Pp. [1–4] 5–352. [1–11]¹⁶

[1] half title; [2] pub. note D5; [3] title; [4] First Modern Library Edition | 1930 | [short double rule]; 5–48 introduction headed HUYSMANS signed p. 48: Havelock Ellis; 49–71 PREFACE | Written Twenty Years After the Novel signed p. 71: J. K. Huysmans. | (1903.); [72] blank; [73] fly title; [74] blank; 75–352 text.

Jacket: Pictorial in moderate bluish green (164) and black on cream paper depicting a man holding jewelry in outstretched right hand with candelabrum on wall in background and tropical flowers in foreground; borders in moderate bluish green, lettering in black. Signed: J. L. (Fall 1930)

Anonymous translation (including the 1903 preface) originally published in Paris by Groves & Michaux, 1926. ML edition printed from plates made from a new typesetting. Published December 1930. WR 27 December 1930. First printing: Not ascertained. Discontinued fall 1937.

Havelock Ellis’s long essay on Huysmans, used as an introduction to the ML edition of Against the Grain, is reprinted from his second collection of biographical essays, Affirmations (London: Walter Scott, 1898). The ML had previously added the essay to its edition of Ellis’s The New Spirit (85), which was published in 1921 and discontinued two years after Against the Grain appeared in the series.