The Washington Square Ensemble [Signed & Inscribed to Jenn Crowell]

New York: The Viking Press, 1983. First Edition. First Printing. Octavo (23.5cm); red and black paper-covered boards, with titles stamped in silver on spine; dustjacket; [xii],342,[6]pp. Signed by Bell on the title page, dated July 31, 1983, and inscribed on the half-title to author Jenn Crowell: "For Jenn Crowell / I greet you at the beginning of a brilliant career / Madison Smartt Bell." Mild offsetting to pastedowns, else very Near Fine in a Near Fine dustjacket, unclipped (priced $15.75), with light wear to extremities and some mild surface wear to panels. Bell's first novel, centered around a heroin dealer (and those within his orbit) in New York during the 1980s.