The "Genius"

New York: Boni and Liveright. Good. (c.1923, 1915). Second Edition. Hardcover. (no dust jacket) [general shelfwear, with tiny rips and slight fraying to spine extremities; binding is solid; notable bookplate on front pastedown (see Notes)]. Dreiser's semi-autobiographical novel, about a talented painter whose libido gets in the way of his art (or maybe it's the other way around). The book sold well when first published, in 1915, but its publisher, the John Lane Compnay, got cold feet when the notorious New York Society for the Suppression of Vice declared the book "unfit to read," and recalled many copies from bookstores; when it was reissued in 1923 by Boni and Liveright (this edition), with an added Foreword discussing the censorship issues, it became Dreiser's best selling book until it was eclipsed by "An American Tragedy" two years later. This copy is of extra interest, as it bears the bookplate of noted Hollywood character actor and book collector Jean Hersholt on the front pastedown. It's an earlier version of Hersholt's bookplate than usually seen, in which his face (looking very much like the unsavory character he played in von Stroheim's GREED) is depicted as one half of a Janus-type portrait. Rather disconcertingly, although the lettering around the perimeter of the bookplate spells out "EX LIBRIS," the letters that appear at the top, and catch the eye, seem to spell out "SEX" -- not necessarily the first word that generally comes to mind when one thinks of Jean Hersholt, if anyone ever does. (See second image posted with this listing.) ****NOTE that additional postage charges will be assessed for international shipping of this somewhat hefty book (at 736 pages, it was Dreiser's second longest); if this concerns you, please contact us for a shipping quote before placing your order. As always at ReadInk, domestic Media Mail shipping is free.**** .