Alexander's Bridge

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1912 First edition, usual second issue with title page preceding half-title page, in Crane’s “B” pictorial dust jacket, which was published a few weeks after the “A” typographic jacket. Publisher’s purple cloth with titles stamped in gilt to front board and spine; original dust jacket with illustration of man and woman dining by F. Graham Cootes to front panel, list of “New Fiction” to rear panel. Book with a touch of spotting to text block fore edge and endpapers, else fine; very good unclipped dust jacket with some wear to edges and spine ends, a bit of toning to spine, and a few small closed tears including two to top (truncated) of rear panel. Overall, a beautiful book in an excellent example of its scarce dust jacket. Crane A5.a.i. Alexander's Bridge features the main character Bartley Alexander, a construction engineer who is famous for his bridges. Throughout the book, Alexander struggles to maintain two relationships-- one with his wife in Boston and the other with an old lover in London. His life deteriorates as a result, a plight that is mirrored by the increasing corrosion of a bridge he built in Canada. Originally published as a serialized story in McClure's Magazine, Alexander's Bridge predates Cather's most successful novels. Subsequently, Cather published her Prairie Trilogy, which established her as a writer and helped pave the way for her more acclaimed writings from the 1920s.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Dust Jacket Included. (Inventory #: WC038)