The Virginian [MASTERPIECES OF AMERICAN LITERATURE SERIES] [VINTAGE 1979] [LEATHERBOUND COLLECTOR'S EDITION]

Wister, Owen

Edité par Easton Press, Norwalk, Connecticut, 1979

A propos de cet article

As new condition full maroon leather hardcover boards, Includes an elaborately decorated gold front and rear cover design, gold spine lettering and decorations, gold gilt page edges on all three sides, salmon moire fabric front and rear endsheets, traditional four-hubbed spine, a bound-into-the-volume matching pink satin ribbon page marker, and all pages are sewn into the binding (not glued). Also includes The Publisher's Preface; Introduction by Struthers Burt; and The Author To The Reader, Charleston, S.C., dated March 31, 1902. Illustrated with black-and-white drawings, two-color drawings, a color portrait frontispiece painting of Owen Wister, and an additional double-page color frontispiece painting. ". desscribes the life of a cowboy and the life he lives on a cattle ranch and is considered the first true fictional western ever written, aside from short stories and pulp dime novels. and paved the way for many more wsterns by such authors as Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour and several others." "It is the fate of many authors to be known by only a single work. In the case of Owen Wister, that single work is a masterpiece. Although Wister authored many other books, his The Virginian is the book for which he is famous. Born in Philadelphia in 1860, Wister was destined to become the man who helped establish the cowboy as an American folk hero and mythical character. After graduating from Harvard in 1882, he intended to devote himself to music and for two years studied composition in Paris. Poor health forced his return to the United States. On the advice of his physician, he spent the summer of 1885 in Wyoming. This time spent in the west proved to be an extremely important experience for him. In the fall of 1885 Wister entered Harvard Law School and graduated in 1888. After being admitted to the bar in 1889, he practiced law in Philadelphia for two years. He continued spending his summers in the west and he began to write about the lore of the American west and of the people he met there. In 1891, after the entusiastic acceptance of two of his western stories by Harper's, he decided to pursue a literary career. After leaving us nearly fifty years of literary efforts, Owen Wister died at North Kingstown, Rhode Island, on July 21, 1938. Of this fifty years of work, his masterpiece is certainly The Virginian. The illustrator of this edition of The Virginian is William Moyers. For this edition, Moyers has made many spirited pen and ink drawings. The frontispiece portrait of Owen Wister was painted in oils by Robert Crofut. Crofut's skill and his fondness for western art is easily seen in the frontispeice as well as in the beautiful painting of the Virginian which follows this preface. The rugged, yet elegant, design stamped deeply into the cover of this volume is the work of Garret Talbot, a diesigner of distinction and also a lover of the west and its history. This fine edition of the book which helped to give birth to an American legend is a truly worthy addition to the Easton Press' Masterpieces of American Literature." -- excerpt from The Publisher's Preface.

N° de réf. du vendeur 006647

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: The Virginian [MASTERPIECES OF AMERICAN LITERATURE SERIES] [VINTAGE 1979] [LEATHERBOUND COLLECTOR'S EDITION]
• Éditeur: Easton Press, Norwalk, Connecticut
• Date de parution: 1979
• Langue: anglais
• Reliure: Hardcover
• Illustrateur: Moyers, William; Crofut, Robert
• État de l'article: As New
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • LEATHERBOUND VOLUMES