Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts, Including Americana

8vo. Half-title. Original mottled green paper covered boards, pictorial printed paper title label to upper cover, printed title label to spine (a very light touch of toning to spine).

FIRST EDITION OF FAULKNER'S RARE FIRST BOOK. The Marble Faun is a collection of verse in a pastoral cycle, of which Phil Stone prophetically said in his preface, "these are primarily the poems of youth and a simple heart. It is seldom that much can be truthfully said for a first book beyond that it shows promise. And I think these poems show promise.". Four Seas agreed to issue this collection of poems in 1923, provided he paid for the manufacturing costs (their standard arrangement). They offered him a royalty arrangement, but Faulkner declined to proceed, at the time not having enough money to carry the costs. Within six months, though, he'd received the encouragement and financial support of Phil Stone, and the twenty-seven-year-old Faulkner contracted for the printing of 500 copies of The Marble Faun. The book sold poorly and was quickly remaindered. No records survive detailing the number of copies Four Seas actually sold before disposing of the stock on the remainder market, but an early estimate suggested 100 copies. William Boozer, in William Faulkner's First Book: The Marble Faun (Memphis, 1975), specifically located 56 copies. He considered the existence of other floating copies for a total of nearly 70, and has since found more, but his total is still short of the 100 copies initially assumed. This copy is in a variant state, with both front and back endpapers of heavier stock than the paper of the text pages (no priority established). Petersen A1.1.