Fine Books and Manuscripts

8vo. (Some pale mostly marginal staining, signature leaf disbound with a few mostly marginal repairs.) Modern half leather; original wrappers bound in (some chipping or soiling); quarter brown levant slipcase gilt. Provenance: Emil Schnellock (presentation inscription from Miller), his pencil annotations throughout); Charles E. Feinberg (1899-1988), Detroit businessman and prominent Whitman collector (sold Parke Bernet, 1968, sale 2707, lot 718); James "Jimmy" Ling (1922-2004), American businessman (photocopied correspondence with Miller laid in). FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY, WITH AN ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR BY MILLER, AND INSCRIBED BY MILLER to his friend and lifetime correspondent Emil Schnellock: "To Emil! How can I ever say how much this means to send you my first book! May it not be the last! With love, gratitude, and fondest remembrances. Henry Paris 9/23/34." Schnellock, a schoolmate of Miller's, was an art instructor at William and Mary. His pencil annotations throughout name the living counterparts of the novel's characters. In photocopied correspondence between Miller and Jimmy Ling, Miller describes inscribing the book for his friend. He describes the watercolor as "lousy," and comments on Schnellock's pencil annotations: "The notations he made seem to be the real names of the characters - which I would prefer to be kept secret as far as possible. In any case, this copy is a real find and should be worth quite something one day, I imagine." A SUPERB ASSOCIATION COPY. Pearson A32.