"ON THE OCCASION OF THE IDES OF MOHONK": FIRST EDITION OF THE STAND, WONDERFULLY INSCRIBED BY STEPHEN KING

KING, Stephen. The Stand. Garden City: Doubleday, 1978. Thick octavo, original half black cloth, original dust jacket.

First edition of King's Hugo-nominated epic tale of apocalyptic terror, inscribed by him on the title page when he was a featured author at an annual "clue-game" weekend for fans of detective fiction: "For B— With all good wishes on the occasion of the Ides of Mohonk. A pleasure meeting you, and thank you for the kind words. Stephen King, March 17, 1979."

"The book that took me the longest to write was The Stand. This is also the one my longtime readers still seem to like the best… I was writing this story near the end of the so-called Energy Crisis in the 1970s, and I had an absolutely marvelous time envisioning a world that went smash during the course of one horrified, infected summer… Rarely have I seen so clearly with the eye of my imagination… [A trust in] violence as a solution is woven through human nature like a damning red thread. That became the theme… There is no moral to The Stand, no 'We'd better learn or we'll probably destroy the whole damned planet next time'—but if the theme stands out clearly enough, those discussing it may offer their own morals and conclusions. Nothing wrong with that; such discussions are one of the great pleasures of the reading life" (King, On Writing, 201-6).

Not only a "very superior example of its genre" (Clute & Nicholls, 666), The Stand "represents King's most ambitiously imaginative novel and the most fulfilling exploration of a predominant theme in his work: the behavior of groups functioning under the pressure of extraordinary situations" (Fantasy and Horror 6-206). "First edition" stated on copyright page; code "T39" in lower corner of final text page. First-issue dust jacket, with price of $12.95. Anatomy of Wonder II-601. Brooks A6. Ketchum, Levack and Levin 16. Horror Literature 4-135. King's inscription is a nod to the annual Ides of Mohonk, a live "clue game" for fans and writers of detective fiction held at the legendary mansion near New Paltz, New York, home to "one of America's more celebrated 'murders'"(Washington Post). The rambling Victorian estate is often believed to have inspired, at least in part, the murderous hotel in The Shining. King, Isaac Asimov and Walter "The Shadow" Gibson were among those attending the March 1979 Ides of Mohonk weekend.

Only tiny bit of edge-wear to bright dust jacket. A fine inscribed copy.