"TO LOREN… STUDYING TO BE A WRITER": EXTRAORDINARY FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION/ASSOCIATION COPY, OF THE LOST WAGON TRAIN, ZANE GREY'S OWN COPY WITH HIS BLINDSTAMP, INSCRIBED FROM ZANE GREY TO HIS SON, NOVELIST LOREN GREY

GREY, Zane. The Lost Wagon Train. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1936. Octavo, original tan cloth, original dust jacket. Housed in a custom cloth chemise and slipcase.

First book edition, presentation copy, of the novel of revenge and romance set in the Old West, Zane Grey's own copy with his half title blindstamp, inscribed in the year of publication to his novelist son: "To Loren, In his third year in U.S.C. studying to be a writer, his Dad. Zane Grey."

This classic Western romance concerns a Confederate Civil War veteran, destroyed by the war, who joins forces with a Kiowa chief to engage in Indian raids on pioneer trains. His adventures lead him to a lost love as he struggles to reclaim himself. First edition, with Harper code "G-L" (Zane Grey Check List, 16). Cover sticker reading: "The New Zane Grey Novel 1936." This copy of The Lost Wagon Train appears to have been originally Zane Grey's own and bears his owner blindstamp. It is inscribed to his son, Loren, and dated in the year of publication. Grey''s son spent a lifetime struggling with his feelings toward his father. Zane Grey was hard not to envy. Today, more than 130 million copies of his books are in print. He is credited with helping to launch Paramount through adaptations of his stories—indeed, many of his books made the jump to the big screen. And, to add insult to injury, Grey was a talented sportsman, holding 11 world records as a deep-sea fisherman and creating 0new types of tackle to catch heavy fish, some of which remain in use today. For his family, ignored amidst Grey's public acclaim and forgotten as he pursued endless affairs, it all proved too much to forgive. "Zane Grey's adventuring and art smothered the family… 'He wasn't much of a father,' Grey said. 'I know he loved me by what he wrote about me. But his two main passions were writing and fishing, and everything else was secondary'… 'He was rich and famous and had beautiful women, and I felt like I didn't have anything,' said Grey, 70. 'I hated him for it'" (Los Angeles Times). Interestingly, at the end of his life, Loren Grey headed Zane Grey, Inc., controlling the rights to Grey's works; preparing and rewriting "the poorer parts" of older unpublished works for publication; and even ghostwriting new works based on his father's characters (People). His father, who wanted him to write fishing books to limit the competition, would likely have had mixed feelings over his son's endeavors.

Book fine, dust jacket about-fine with slight rubbing and minor original discoloration to edges of flaps. A wonderful copy with an outstanding familial association.