Sister Carrie
New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1900. 8vo. [viii], 557 pp. FIRST EDITION. Original publisher’s red cloth with title in borders on the front board, a bit worn. Preserved in a half-morocco clamshell box with gilt decorated spine. Bookplate of Howard Roosa on the front paste-down. Item #16150
First edition of Dreiser’s story of a young girl’s move to the big city and her subsequent rise to fame as she pursues her own “American dream.” The book was only published at the fraught urging of Dreiser, as even his wife found the content too sordid. Though less than five hundred copies were initially sold (out of a first run of 1008), it is now considered one of the greatest of all American urban novels.
Dreiser (1871-1945) is one of the most recognizable members of the literary movement known as Naturalism. He was often forced to battle against censorship, as his subject matter was likely to offend authorities and regularly challenged popular standards of acceptable judgment. His writing frequently explores the tensions between desire, ambition, and social mores.
Price: $5,500.00