– 4 – N e w A c q u i s i t i o n s First Edition Of Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio, Inscribed By Him 2. ANDERSON, Sherwood. Winesburg, Ohio. New York, 1919. Octavo, original yellow cloth, custom clamshell box. $17,500. First edition, scarce first issue, of “Anderson’s first important work, and possibly his finest” (Sheehy & Lohf), inscribed: “To Florence D. Briscoe, Sherwood Anderson.” Although he had already published two novels and a book of poetry, Anderson did not receive widespread attention until he produced this book, “establishing him as a leading figure in the Chicago literary renaissance” (Stringer, 20). “These stories of small-town people voice the philosophy of life expressed in all his later works. Adopting a naturalistic interpretation of American life, he believed that the primal forces of human behavior are instinctive” (Hart, 31). The book was a major influence on Hemingway, Faulkner and Wolfe, and led critic Carl Van Doren to note, “Anderson, who is a poet at heart, is profoundly devoted to the idea that life to be truly good must be mobile and creative, not fixed and obedient.” First issue, with unbroken right frame line of title page; “lay” at page 86, line five; broken type in “the” at page 251, line three. Without very rare original dust jacket. Text generally fine, bright cloth with only mild soiling, toning and a bit of wear to paper spine label. Very desirable inscribed.
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