CHRISTMAS STORY. Presentation Copy.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1946.
Bill Crawford. 1st Edition. Signed by Author. Original cloth, illustrated label, dustwrapper in near fine condition bearing the original $1.00 price. First book edition of Christmas Story for adults originally published in the "New Yorker" in 1944. Inscribed by the author on the title-page: "For John L. Lewis To recall a brief encounter in Washington H.L. Mencken". Covers a bit spotted & faded, else very good. Mencken's shortest book. A charming tale about Christmas & prohibition. John L. Lewis (1880-1969), an American labor leader, was president of the UMWA from 1920-1960. He was a giant among American leaders in the first half of the twentieth century, regularly advising presidents and challenging America's corporate leaders. His work to organize the country's industrial workers through the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in the 1930s helped raise living standards for millions of American families. His copy. Very Nice. Written in Mencken's inimitable style. "The great artists of the world are never Puritans, and seldom respectable. No virtuous man - that is, virtuous in the Y.M.C.A. sense has ever painted a picture worth looking at, or written a symphony worth hearing, or a book worth reading ."
Item #33042 Price: US$790.00