[Literature] Wilder, Thornton Group of 2 Inscribed First Editions

Wilder, Thornton
Group of 2 Inscribed First Editions

The Cabala
New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1926. First edition. 8vo. (x), 7-230 pp. Presentation copy, warmly inscribed by Wilder to Dorothy Massey on front free endpaper: "For Dorothy The only reader who doesn't believe in Alix (so that I no longer can. my god) with all my best, Thornt." Publisher's quarter red cloth over patterned cloth-covered boards, stamped in black, spine darkened and soiled, fraying along extremities, small puncture at bottom of front board; top edge stained grey, other edges trimmed; slightly cocked; old small bookseller's slip mounted above inscription; dust-jacket wanting.

Together with:

The Bridge of San Luis Rey
New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1927. First edition. 8vo. 235 pp. Presentation copy, humorously inscribed by Wilder to Dorothy Massey on front blank: "For Dorothy The first reader of these pages, (and the mean piker who won't return the proof-sheets) and dammit one of the brightest-- Selah! Thornt." Illustrated by Amy Drevenstedt. Publisher's tan cloth-covered boards, stamped in black and in green, shaken, spine unevenly darkened, spine ends lightly frayed, scattered soiling to boards; all edges trimmed; illustrated endpapers; old newspaper review mounted to front free endpaper; scarce dust-jacket wanting.

Lot includes an autograph letter from Dorothy's husband, the Canadian-American actor, Raymond Massey, dated December, 1982.

Group of two first edition presentation copies of Wilder's first two novels, The Cabala, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning, The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Affectionately inscribed to Dorothy Ludington Massey (1902-1982), lawyer and third wife of Canadian-American actor, Raymond Massey (1896-1983). Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Dorothy graduated from Vassar College and then Yale Law School, and afterwards became a divorce attorney. She met her second husband, Raymond, when she represented him during his divorce from his second wife, Adrianne Allen. Dorothy's then husband, attorney William Dwight Whitney, would represent Raymond's wife in the very same proceedings, and by the divorce's finalization, Dorothy and William would themselves divorce, with Dorothy marrying Raymond, and William marrying Raymond's ex, Adrianne. The episode became the inspiration for the 1949 George Cukor film, Adam's Rib, starring Spencer Tracey and Katharine Hepburn. Raymond and Dorothy married in 1939, and following the end of World War II, in 1945, Raymond took Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Our Town (1938) on tour to the U.S. troops in Europe for the American Theatre Wing.

Provenance
The Estate of G. Franklin Ludington, New York City.