First printing, in the true first state jacket with the stars present
Publisher and Year: Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1980
Edition: First edition, first printing, with the title page dated 1980 and without a printing statement on the copyright page, as called for (later printings would be stated explicitly). In the true first state jacket, with stars present in the black portions of the design, which appear as subtle white specks. Publisher records confirm that these stars, intended to evoke a night sky, were deliberately included for the first printing of 2,500 copies and removed for the second printing of 5,000 copies. This issue point, discovered in 2022, disproves the long-held belief that the first state jacket is simply identified by the rear panel bearing only a single blurb by Percy. The true first state jacket is therefore three times scarcer than previously believed (2,500 vs. 7,500). For further discussion, see Patrick Mullins’ research (Aug 2022) and the associated article in Fine Books & Collections, Nov 2022.
Condition and Description: Octavo, tan cloth stamped in black, 338 pp. Light wear and small patches of discoloration to the boards. Very small puncture mark to the joint of the front board (likewise appearing on the jacket). Staining to the bottom edges of the boards. Tight hinges and binding. Prior owner's contemporary inscription on the front free endpaper in ink, dated June 1980. Contents clean otherwise, with no other writing or underlining. Light tanning to the left portion of the half-title. Chipping to the upper-left portion of the front panel of the dust jacket, with light wear and tiny losses to the extremities. The jacket is preserved in a removable mylar cover. An attractive copy of the first printing in the scarce first state jacket, which is now known to be three times rarer than previously believed.
“I am at the moment writing a lengthy indictment against our century. When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, I make an occasional cheese dip.”
A Confederacy of Dunces satirizes American life as disordered, performative, and hollow. Institutions fail, culture is shallow, and everyone clings to roles that no longer mean anything. Published eleven years after the author’s suicide, the novel became the first posthumous novel to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Its road to publication, driven by the author’s mother and championed by Walker Percy, has become a landmark episode in American literary history. The novel is widely beloved and critically acclaimed, appearing on PBS’s America’s Most Loved Novels list and the BBC’s 100 Novels That Shaped Our World.
Inventory ID: 142 - 760 - 848
First printing, in the true first state jacket with the stars present
Publisher and Year: Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1980
Edition: First edition, first printing, with the title page dated 1980 and without a printing statement on the copyright page, as called for (later printings would be stated explicitly). In the true first state jacket, with stars present in the black portions of the design, which appear as subtle white specks. Publisher records confirm that these stars, intended to evoke a night sky, were deliberately included for the first printing of 2,500 copies and removed for the second printing of 5,000 copies. This issue point, discovered in 2022, disproves the long-held belief that the first state jacket is simply identified by the rear panel bearing only a single blurb by Percy. The true first state jacket is therefore three times scarcer than previously believed (2,500 vs. 7,500). For further discussion, see Patrick Mullins’ research (Aug 2022) and the associated article in Fine Books & Collections, Nov 2022.
Condition and Description: Octavo, tan cloth stamped in black, 338 pp. Light wear and small patches of discoloration to the boards. Very small puncture mark to the joint of the front board (likewise appearing on the jacket). Staining to the bottom edges of the boards. Tight hinges and binding. Prior owner's contemporary inscription on the front free endpaper in ink, dated June 1980. Contents clean otherwise, with no other writing or underlining. Light tanning to the left portion of the half-title. Chipping to the upper-left portion of the front panel of the dust jacket, with light wear and tiny losses to the extremities. The jacket is preserved in a removable mylar cover. An attractive copy of the first printing in the scarce first state jacket, which is now known to be three times rarer than previously believed.
“I am at the moment writing a lengthy indictment against our century. When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, I make an occasional cheese dip.”
A Confederacy of Dunces satirizes American life as disordered, performative, and hollow. Institutions fail, culture is shallow, and everyone clings to roles that no longer mean anything. Published eleven years after the author’s suicide, the novel became the first posthumous novel to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Its road to publication, driven by the author’s mother and championed by Walker Percy, has become a landmark episode in American literary history. The novel is widely beloved and critically acclaimed, appearing on PBS’s America’s Most Loved Novels list and the BBC’s 100 Novels That Shaped Our World.
Inventory ID: 142 - 760 - 848
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