Guy Holt A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WRITINGS OF JAMES BRANCH CABELL 1924 Decorative Binding Limited Edition Signed American Author Fantasy Fiction Belles Lettres Centaur Book Shop

Title: A Bibliography of the Writings of James Branch Cabell
Author: Guy Holt - Guy Holt was an editor and publisher who, in his early years, helped launch the careers of writers such as James Branch Cabell and Robert Nathan. He worked for several companies including James M. McBride, John Day (which he co-founded), and Whittlesey House at McGraw-Hill. Holt is best remembered for his impact on the career of James Branch Cabell, whose books he helped publish at James M. McBride. Holt played an important role in the 1920 censorship case against Cabell’s Jurgen, the 1919 novel that created a sensation when it was accused of being “offensive, lewd, lascivious and indecent†by John Sumner of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, who wanted the book legally censored. Holt was the manager at McBride and was named in the case. After two years, McBride finally won the case. Holt compiled a book of documents about the case, Jurgen and the Law (1923) and a bibliography of Cabell (1924)
Publisher: The Centaur Book Shop
City: Philadelphia
Year: 1924
Printing Information: Limited Edition
Binding Style: Hardcover
Pagination: 73 pages
Width: 6.5" Height: 9.5"
Book Details: Bound in decorative floral-patterned paper with a cloth spine and cream-colored title labels, this signed limited edition is numbered 34 of 100. A tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of the author enhanced this title. From “About These Books†introductory pages by James Branch Cabell: “Upon a number of counts, I prefer here to say nothing about these books. Apart, entirely, from much inner monitory whispering as to the aureate qualities of silence, I have found the minuteness and spit hairs—the superfine orthology and the paraded cantlets and flitters—of the bibliographic art, when in full exercise, to beget in its beholders speechlessness…Nobody will I hope, misunderstand my meaning…And I have, rather naturally, rejoiced that this meticulous method of cataloguing in legible print all my least deeds and misdeeds as a writer does not, even more embarrassingly, invade the field of my actions as a human being…â€

James Branch Cabell (14 April 1879 – 5 May 1958) was an American author of fantasy fiction and belles lettres. Cabell was well regarded by his contemporaries, including H. L. Mencken, Edmund Wilson, and Sinclair Lewis. His works were considered escapist and fit well in the culture of the 1920s, when they were most popular. For Cabell, veracity was "the one unpardonable sin, not merely against art, but against human welfare."

Although escapist, Cabell's works are ironic and satirical. H. L. Mencken disputed Cabell's claim to romanticism and characterized him as "really the most acidulous of all the anti-romantics. His gaudy heroes ... chase dragons precisely as stockbrockers play golf." Cabell saw art as an escape from life, but once the artist creates his ideal world, he finds that it is made up of the same elements that make the real one.
Condition / Notes: This handsome volume shows very nicely, with minimal indications of age and wear. The binding and text block are sound. Text is clear and legible. There is some evidence of moisture to the lower portion of the boards and text block.

For lots which include only books, our shipping charge applies to any address within the fifty United States. For lots which are not books, the stated shipping cost in this listing will apply only to addresses within the continental 48 states. Within those parameters, the shipping cost for this lot will be: $4.50