Edna Ferber / GIANT Signed 1st Edition 1952
"The entire state of Texas felt impugned by it" (Gilbert). Inscribed first printing, the basis for the film starring Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean - with Nick Adams providing voiceover work after Dean tragically died late in production. About fine in very good plus jacket.
To say that in 1952 the impact of GIANT created a tumult not only in the book world but in the real world of the United States would not be an exaggeration. It was a much-talked-about book not only from the standpoint of readability but of libel-ity.
Now enshrined as legend because it is James Dean's third and final film as leading actor, beforehand the novel that was the film's inspiration was an enormous cultural event, read by seemingly everyone, and drawing high praise from critics while infuriating Texans. Ferber didn't initially plan to write an epic about Texas: "let Michener write it, " she said. But the idea "haunted" her and she finally wrote it as a kind of exorcism. Despite her resistance, Ferber was the right person to write such a work: "American saga" a la Michener doesn't do justice to this novel's characteristic satire and sarcasm.
This copy, inscribed playfully to "Hoib, " likely inscribed to Herbert Mayes, editor of COSMOPOLITAN who published her work there and was a close friend. Read more: Gilbert, Edna Ferber and Her Circle, a Biography, 173, 177-8.
New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1952. 8.25'' x 5.75''. Original black cloth, white-lettered spine. Orange endpapers, orange topstain, fore-edge machine deckle. Inscribed by Ferber on the half-title page: You're quite a / giant yourself, / Hoib dear. But / a really dimensional / giant, I mean. / Sands Point / 1953. Jacket with light edgewear, faint soiling, and a couple closed tears.Type Punch Matrix is a rare book firm founded by Rebecca Romney and Brian Cassidy. Between them, they bring over 30 years of experience in the antiquarian book trade. TPM sells a mixture of beloved classics and innovative texts from throughout print history, for collectors and institutions alike. Handpress and modern books, archives and manuscripts, letterpress and ephemera: TPM aims to make collecting both more accessible and more diverse, and believes in the mindful acquisition, preservation, and celebration of the materials of our literary cultures. Proud member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of American (ABAA), the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), and the International Online Booksellers Association (IOBA).
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