“IN THIS BOOK HE IS UNSURPASSABLE”: FIRST EDITION OF THE HAMLET
FAULKNER, William. The Hamlet. New York: Random House, 1940. Octavo, original black cloth, original dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box.
First trade edition of the first novel in the acclaimed and popular Snopes trilogy, in original dust jacket.
The Hamlet was the only novel Faulkner published between Absalom, Absalom! (1936) and Knight’s Gambit (1949). The critical response was very positive: Malcolm Cowley considered it Faulkner’s best work since Sanctuary, while The New York Times hailed it as “nothing short of superb—subtle and yet direct, humorous, homely, brilliantly evocative of a decaying South in the generation after the Civil War… In this book he is unsurpassable.” Preceded by the signed limited edition of only 250 copies. Petersen A.221b. Brodsky 213. Bruccoli & Clark I:123. Blotner, 416.
Book fine, bright dust jacket with only slight soiling to rear panel and light wear and toning to extremities. A handsome copy in near-fine condition.