Village Virtue (Only copy for sale on the Internet) (Signed)

Harry Durant

Published by The Knickerbocker Press, New York, 1931

First Edition (SD). Once listed, this will be the Only copy for sale anywhere on the Internet. Moreover, it is signed and inscribed by the author. The inscription is on the first front end paper. It reads: 'To Phil _______ , a great judge+ a great guy. Harry Durant, Sept 24, 1931.' You can see the red covers in the photos. They look quite clean. The red of the spine is slightly lightened. The white lettering on the front and spine is bright. Both spine ends have some wear including small tears. The six edges are free of rubbing. There is one tiny dent at the front and rear top and bottom edges. The corners are in very good shape. The front bottom one has a speck-sized spot of rub-through and there is a small crease just above the corner. There is also a small crease on the front cover just off the top edge adjacent to the spine. The spine is slanted forward, but the book is decently bound. There is a slight bit of give if you pull at the front cover from the side, but there is no crack or space at the juncture between the inside front cover and first front end paper or between the front cover and any of the pages. The only space at a juncture that I found was between the first and second of the blank rear end papers. It's very thin and both end papers are solidly bound. The juncture between the rear cover and rear end paper is fine. The pages are very clean. Perhaps there are two or three small vague spots. I'm not seeing any creasing. There are no markings. No attachments. The previous owner did (oddly, as this is a work of fiction) pencil a short line (mostly only one, a few times two or three) at the blank margin of eleven pages. I erased one to see how easily it came off. It removed the penciling, but did leave an impression of the line. The Preface by the author: 'For fifty years the author has made a close study of small towns in Connecticut and their people. He has had unusual opportunities for observation and recording because he was born among them and spent most of his life in their midst. This story is in an attempt to fictionalize the lives of a group of rural Connecticut natives, all of whom have long since gone to be finally judged elsewhere, but whose counterparts live today and no doubt always will! It is the author's final analysis on despicable characters such as some of these, that they do not represent over ten percent of the population in any Connecticut small town. That is to say, fully ninety percent of the people are honest, charitable, god-fearing and neighborly, the finest types of American families we have, and which ninety percent will continue to add to the moral strength of our national spirit and character-- the truest representatives of our best business, professional and religious life. Therefore, the ten percent of any small Connecticut community which carries the slander, bigotry, hypocrisy, envy, malice and treachery of their village, is merely the proportion of weak and selfish human nature which abounds perhaps in larger measure in our cities, that unhappy heritage which has been man's burden down through the ages.'. Seller Inventory # 003907

Bibliographic Details

Title: Village Virtue (Only copy for sale on the ...
Publisher: The Knickerbocker Press, New York
Publication Date: 1931
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good Minus
Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)
Edition: 1st Edition