Description
The first edition of Chicken Inspector No. 23 by S.J. Perelman, inscribed to Merrill Panitt of TV Guide.
Octavo, 255pp, [1]. Orange boards, yellow cloth spine. Stated “first edition” on the copyright page. Red topstain, with light spotting. Faint rubbing and soiling to yellow cloth spine. In the publisher’s dust jacket, $4.95 on the front flap, closed tear along spine, a bright example.
Inscribed on the front free endpaper: “For Merrill / This new geyser of spleen to alienate old friends / Best, Sid / S.J. Perelman / 17 August 1966.”
This copy was inscribed to Merrill Panitt (1918-1994), the founder and editorial director of TV Guide. During World War II, Panitt served on the staff of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, where he came to the attention of Walter Annenberg, the publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Panitt joined The Inquirer in 1945 and worked with Annenberg to found TV Guide in 1953. He later became the director of Triangle Publications, the publisher of TV Guide, Seventeen Magazine, and more.
