[Rarebooks] FS: James Agee;s Copy of ELMER GANTRY

[Charles Agvent]

[AGEE, James] LEWIS, Sinclair. ELMER GANTRY [James Agee's copy at 
Phillips Exeter Academy dated March 1927]. New York: Harcourt, Brace and 
Company, (1927). A later printing, ex-library copy with the bookplate of 
The Phillips Exeter Academy library on the front pastedown, stamped 
DISCARDED, of a book made into a film starring Burt Lancaster that won 
three Academy Awards. An undistinguished copy BUT for the fact that it 
belonged to James Agee with his SIGNATURE "J R Agee" dated March 1927 on 
the front free endpaper. This copy later belonged to Henry Darcy Curwen, 
of the Exeter English faculty, who signed his name below Agee's. In 
March 1927, Agee, at age 17, was in his "upper-middle" year (junior) at 
Exeter, an admirer of Sinclair Lewis and already committed to a literary 
career, submitting poems and stories to the Phillips Exeter Monthly. In 
one of his early letters to Father Flye (LETTERS OF JAMES AGEE TO FATHER 
FLYE, pages 27-28) dated Exeter 17 March 1927, Agee writes: "I've bought 
and read Elmer Gantry, the Lewis satire on religion. It's very 
disappointing, although excellent in spots. He's turning rancid." 
Reflecting his own psychological unease at the time, Agee soon expands 
this somewhat in one of his earliest published critical articles, a 
review of ELMER GANTRY in the Phillips Exeter Monthly 31 (May 1927): "It 
is one gigantic crescendo of walloping filthiness, and I have the 
feeling that it carried Mr. Lewis before it, and left him stranded where 
not even himself can work his salvation." Early signed Agee material is 
uncommon, and the important resonance of this copy with his beginning 
literary efforts can hardly be exaggerated. Good copy, lacking the 
dustwrapper. An Agee rarity. (#013597)        $2,000.00

http://www.charlesagvent.com/shop/agvent/013597.html?id=kyhUqpvL

-- 
All books subject to prior sale. Cash with order; institutions may be 
billed. Postage additional: $10.00 for the first item; $5.00 for each 
thereafter. Overseas postage billed at approximate cost. Pennsylvania 
residents must add 6% sales tax. Mastercard, Visa, American Express, and 
Discover accepted. Books may be returned within 7 days of receipt for 
any reason provided they are in the same condition as sent and prior 
notice is given. Please insure returns for their full value. We carry a 
diverse stock with major specialties including Modern and 19th Century 
Literary First Editions, Signed Books, Presidential Autographs, 
Illustrated Books, and the world's largest inventory of Limited Editions 
Club books. *We have been in business since 1987 and are proud to be 
members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) and 
the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB).* Please feel 
free to contact us with any wants or offerings. Thank you.

CHARLES AGVENT

291 Linden Road

Mertztown, PA 19539-8750

610-682-4750

info at charlesagvent.com

Please visit our shop: http://www.charlesagvent.com