Cheating The Junk-Pile: The Purchase And Maintenance Of Household Equipments (Only Signed Copy)

Ethel R. Peyser; With an Introduction by Richardson Wright (Editor of House and Garden Magazine)

Edité par E.P. Dutton & Company, New York, 1922

A propos de cet article

First Editions of E. P. Dutton prior to 1928 can be identified by the presence of the same date (SD) on the title and copyright page. In this case, 1922 is on the copyright page but there is no date on the title page. So I'm not going to identify the book as a first edition. However, one has to wonder whether there were actually second and third printings as there is a total of one copy of this book for sale on the Internet. That copy (also not identified as a first), is selling for $75.00. Once I've listed this book, it will be the Only signed copy for sale anywhere on the Internet. In fact, it will be the Only signed copy of any of Ethel R. Peyser's books. Oddly enough, I found this book in the library of John J. McCloy, the former Assistant Secretary Of War and Commissioner of Postwar Germany. Odd because it isn't inscribed him. The inscription reads: 'A Foolish Book given to A.M.J. By its perpetrator Ethel R. Peyser, 1923.' Ms. Peyser was born in 1887. She attended Barnard and Vassar College. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from Columbia University in 1908. She worked on the editorial staffs of The New York Tribune, the New York Evening Mail, Good Housekeeping, and House and Garden Magazine. She was the author of a number of books on musical history and the enjoyment of music. She wrote a book about Carnegie Hall titled The House That Music Built.' So the subject matter seems to have been quite a left turn. The book has held up pretty well. Its main flaw is a loss at the top edge of the spine, although it does not reach the lettering. The gilt lettering on the front cover is a little darkened, but the gilt is quite visible. On the spine, if it was ever there it's gone, but the black lettering is clear. The edges and corners of the book are in very good shape. The bottom edge of the spine has just has a crease. The page edges are clean and the book is square and solidly bound from cover to cover. The pages are reasonably tight. There are no cracks or spaces to be found anywhere. And that goes for the covers as well. All good, particularly since the book is a fairly thick 401 pages. Before I forget, I found a pair of pages that were uncut. I turned over a good number of pages without finding any others so if there are more uncut pages there wouldn't be many. The pages are toned, but uniformly, and in quite good shape. I've been scrolling through. I'm not seeing any soiling (there's a speck on the frontispiece). There are 24 illustrations, including the frontispiece. Some are full-page black-and-white photographs. Some are drawings. The photographs are on glossy paper. They don't have any foxing. All of the illustrations appear to be in very good condition. I found two or three consecutive pages with a tiny crease at their top corner. I didn't see any other creasing. I saw a few pages that were little jagged at the bottom edge, quite minor, and far from the print. There are no markings in the book. There are no attachments. And with the exception of the author's signed inscription, no one has written their name or anything else anywhere. From the Foreword: 'Ignorant buying is the junk-pile subsistence. This book is in no way intended to be a book on household efficiency, in the usual sense of the word-- it is no religio-culinaris, no domestic Baedecker or home Taylor. It is merely meant to be a means to the purchase and care of the best household equipments and to be in instruction before, not after, the purchase is made. Further, it is meant to cheat the junk-pile, by inspiring the buyer to get the maximum advantage of every purchase of the thing he buys and by the proper care of it after he gets it. It is a book which conspires against the aspiring junk heap in the yard or in the store-room.'.

N° de réf. du vendeur 003143

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Cheating The Junk-Pile: The Purchase And Maintenance Of Household Equipments (Only Signed Copy)
• Éditeur: E.P. Dutton & Company, New York
• Date de parution: 1922
• Reliure: Hardcover
• Illustrateur: 'Illustrated by drawings by Harry Richardson and by photographs'
• État de l'article: Good
• Signé: Inscribed by Author(s)
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • One-Of-A-Kind
  • Signed
  • Signed Finance, Economics & Business