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Tropic of Capricorn
by Henry Miller
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Very Good Condition/No Dust Jacket
- Seller
-
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
The Obelisk Press/Les Editions Du Chene, Paris, 1952. Reprint. Hardcover (Half Cloth). Very Good Condition/No Dust Jacket. green cloth spine & corners over pattern printed boards. Tropic of Capricorn is a semi-autobiographical novel by Henry Miller, first published by Obelisk Press in Paris in 1939. A prequel of sorts to Miller's first published novel, 1934's Tropic of Cancer. The novel covers Miller's growing inability and outright refusal to accommodate what he sees as America's hostile environment. It is autobiographical but not chronological, jumping between Miller's adolescent adventures in Brooklyn in the 1900s, recollections of his first love Una Gifford, a love affair with his nearly-30-year-old piano teacher when he was 15, his unhappy marriage to his first wife Beatrice, his years working at Western Union (called The Cosmodemonic Telegraph Company in the book) in Manhattan in the 1920s, and his fateful meeting with his second wife June (known in the book as Mara), who he credits with changing his life and making him into a writer. It was banned in the United States until a 1961 Justice Department ruling declared that its contents were not obscene. Size: 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. 362 pages. Binding is tight, covers and spine fully intact, some fading to spine colour. Pages browned with age. Previous owner's inscription in ink, neat, to fep.. Black titles spine. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 500 grams. Category: Fiction; Novel; American Literature; Biography & Autobiography; United States; 1900-1920; Literature & Literary. Dewey Code: 577.630941. Inventory No: 4501. .
Synopsis
Like his previous work, Tropic of Cancer , Henry Miller's Tropic of Capricorn stayed banned in the U.S. until 1961. Written with a similar style and theme, the book details and to some extent parodies Miller's experiences working for Western Union, referring to the company throughout the book as the “Cosmodemonic Telegraph Company.” In Capricorn , Miller expounded on his travails as a struggling writer in New York in the 1920s, and with his troubled marriage. The book was published by Obelisk Press in Paris in 1939. The first U.S. Edition was printed by Grove Press in 1961, and signed copies of this book are also sought after, due to the lawsuit and controversy surrounding its publication. The trilogy itself represents a significant challenge to traditional literary forms, and Miller's appeal to counter-culture continues to attract new collectors. The final book in Miller's Obelisk Trilogy , it was followed by Black Spring in 1938, a collection of shorter stories related to the series, and Tropic of Capricorn in 1939, another stream-of-consciousness account of the author's struggles in New York in the 1920s. Flaws in the first Paris edition (printed in English) commonly include a damaged or missing spine. Wear to the cover and boards, and chips and unevenness to the page edges are also common. Signed copies of this work in good condition are often sold for over $1,000. The first U.S. Edition is of higher quality, and features gilt lettering on the title pages, and marbled paper boards. Less commonly seen errors for this edition include soiling and damage to the edges, folded corners of pages, and slight loosening of the boards and binding.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Bookbarrow
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 4501
- Title
- Tropic of Capricorn
- Author
- Henry Miller
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover (Half Cloth)
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good Condition
- Jacket Condition
- No Dust Jacket
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- Reprint
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- The Obelisk Press/Les Editions Du Chene
- Place of Publication
- Paris
- Date Published
- 1952
- Keywords
- BZDB227 Fiction/Autobiography/Novel/Literature/American Literature/Henry Miller Fiction; Novel; American Literature; Biography & Autobiography; United States; 1900-1920; Literature & Literary. Unbranded Henry Miller Tropic of Capricorn
Terms of Sale
Bookbarrow
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Bookbarrow
Biblio member since 2014
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
About Bookbarrow
Private Premises by appointment only and various book fairs (see websites of "P.B.F.A." and "Missing Books" for details).
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- 12mo
- A duodecimo is a book approximately 7 by 4.5 inches in size, or similar in size to a contemporary mass market paperback. Also...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Reprint
- Any printing of a book which follows the original edition. By definition, a reprint is not a first edition.
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
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