LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 October Rare Books & Manuscripts #675  / 

30718

T. H. Benton: Signed 1st - An Artist in America

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:125.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 600.00 USD
T. H. Benton: Signed 1st - An Artist in America
<B>Thomas Hart Benton: Signed First Edition of <I>An Artist in America</B></I>.</B></I> (New York: Robert M. McBride & Company, 1937), first edition, 276 pages, blue cloth binding with gilt lettering on spine and "Benton" blind-stamped on the front cover, 8vo (6.25" x 9.5"), no dust jacket, clear Mylar protective jacket. Deckled fore-edge. Profusely illustrated with 64 Benton pen & pencil sketches. Signed "<I>Thos. H. Benton</B></I>" on the half-title page. <I>An Artist in America</B></I> is Benton's engaging autobiographical meditation on living, working, and traveling throughout the American heartland. A 1937 <I>Newsweek</B></I> book review by Sinclair Lewis is laid-in, in which Lewis lauds Benton's <I>An Artist in America</B></I> as "a report on America which is neither prettified for the local real-estate men nor yet sour with envy of the Europe which is so charming that all of our 40,000,000 ancestors got out of it as fast as they could." Lewis also praises Benton "for his rediscovery of the laughing, swaggering America that Mark Twain knew." An advertisement for a Benton art exhibition is also laid-in. This signed first edition is in very good condition. There is minimal shelf wear present, some sunning to the spine, and scattered spots of soiling to the boards. The front hinge is a bit shaken at the title page, but the binding is sound overall. The textblock is clean and bright. This marvelous book comes housed in a custom blue quarter leather slipcase with gilt titles and five raised bands on the spine. A rare chance to obtain a first edition of Benton's literary masterpiece signed by the artist himself.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Books & Catalogs (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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