Proof Inscribed to Blurb-Writer Stanley Elkin

The Wreckage of Agathon [Proof and First, Signed]

Gardner, John

Publication: New York: Harper & Row, 1970. First Edition.

Notes: The author's second novel, here in the first edition with a blurb from Stanley Elkin on the back cover, inscribed, together with the very scarce uncorrected proof, inscribed by Gardner to Elkin, "To Stanley, any sensible novelist's hero. John."

These two books appeared a year apart at PBA Galleries, the proof on March 24, 2011, and the first, inscribed, "To J. S. St... / Best wishes / John Garner" on May 24, 2012. The collector Tom Garner commissioned a custom clamshell box to house them both.

The proof is comb-bound, measuring 7 by 9 inches, printed rectos only, in blue Harper & Row wrappers with a typed label affixed to the front cover.

Edition + Condition: The stated first edition is fine but for a small nick at the top of the spine; the proofs are fragile and very good. A terrific association copy.

Item No: #334044

Price: $1,500