Faulkner, William.

SARTORIS; [Together with FLAGS IN THE DUST and First Day of Issue cover featuring a self-portrait by Faulkner entitled "Post Office Blues"].

New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, (1929). First edition of Faulkner's portrait of a decaying Mississippi aristocracy following the social upheaval of the Civil War. 8vo black cloth boards stamped in red on front and spine; red top edge; 380 pages. Good or better with spine lettering dulled but readable. Lacking the dust jacket. SARTORIS was heavily edited by the publisher for this 1929 first publication. Offered here TOGETHER WITH the first printing of the complete text, FLAGS IN THE DUST, published by Random House in 1973. Near fine in near fine dust jacket with few small rubbed nicks and tears. ALSO INCLUDED is a 1987 "First Day of Issue" cover featuring a small reproduction of "POST OFFICE BLUES," Faulkner's 1923 self-portrait with Lottie Vernon White. The cover envelope, which contains a block of 4 Faulkner 22-cent stamps in glassine and a loose block of 8 stamps, is addressed to scholar, biographer, and Stanford English professor Thomas C. Moser (1923-2016). There were several variations of first day covers issued -- it would appear this particular one was reserved for contributors to various "William Faulkner projects" at the University of Mississippi (1987 Faulkner Conference program, "Faulkner and the Craft of Fiction") and was available to be mailed or picked up "during the Faulkner stamp ceremony" at the University on 8/3/87. The back of the envelope describes Faulkner's time as "a derelict postmaster" at the University who was removed from his position after three years in part because he seemed "reluctant to cease reading long enough to wait on the patrons." It also features a Faulkner quote about the book that ties it to a postal theme, "Beginning with SARTORIS I discovered that my own little postage stamp of native soil was worth writing about ...."
Item #72580

Price: $500.00