Description
Signed first American edition of The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder. This copy is inscribed to a lifelong friend of Wilder, with two additional ALS laid-in.
Octavo, 235pp, [1]. Mauve cloth, title in black on front cover and spine. Yellow topstain, illustrated endpapers. No additional printings listed. Solid text block, light wear along edges, a near fine example. Previous ownership inscription to front flyleaf, dated 1927. Complete with frontispiece and 8 plates by Amy Drevenstedt. In the publisher’s first state dust jacket, $2.50 retail price on front flap, sunned spine, light wear to corners. Closed tears to front panel and spine reinforced with archival tissue repair on verso. An attractive example.
(Bruccoli & Clark III, 363) (Martine 9, 146) (Edelstein A2b)
Signed by Thornton Wilder on the verso of the frontispiece. Inscription reads: “To Miss Margaret Dunbar / with all the regard of an old friend and co-worker. Thornton / Berkeley Jan 1930.”
Includes two handwritten letters from Wilder, corresponding with the recipient of this copy, Miss Margaret Dunbar. One letter, dated March 24, 1969, was written to Dunbar as Wilder traveled by ship from Genoa to Curacao. Wilder describes hopes for the remainder of his career, stating, “Alas, I haven’t yet written that beguiling book for children that I’ve long dreamed of doing; and I’d like to do one more (and better) farce-comedy that would give sheer pleasure.”
The second letter, dated February 27, 1972, is addressed to “Mrs. Dunbar,” offering condolences for the passing of the original recipient.
The recipient of this copy and letters, Miss Margaret Dunbar (d. 1972), was the head of the South Berkeley Branch Library, a member of the American Association of University Women, and a member of the Berkeley Zonta Club. (Berkeley Gazette, April 1948) Dunbar and Wilder maintained a friendship first formed in childhood, as they both lived near Berkeley, CA. (Sacramento Union, Sept. 1930)
The English edition of The Bridge of San Luis Rey preceded the first American edition by a few days. The true first impression (only 21 copies) has a title page printed in all black and is rarely seen on the market. (Edelstein A2a)
Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) was an American playwright and novelist renowned for exploring universal themes of human connection and resilience. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for drama with Our Town (1938) and The Skin of Our Teeth (1942), and one for fiction with this work, The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927).
