8vo. Original blue and orange cloth; dust jacket (price-clipped, toning to spine).

FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE with "Supposing Purdy and I..." on p. 49, line 4 and "...to ruin my fellow human..." on p. 49, line 5. SIGNED BY SINCLAIR LEWIS ON FRONT FREE ENDPAPER. Babbitt was written in response to the rise of the American middle class following the end of World War I, which was, in turn, fueled by growing fears of communism in the United States. "A most grievous victim of his own militant dullness," the character of George Babbitt led to the name "Babbitt" becoming something of a pejorative in 1920s culture, used to describe a complacent, conformist figure, afraid to stray too far from his creature comforts. Numerous scholars have, in fact, suggested that the main character of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, was inspired by George Babbitt (Leslie Ellen Jones, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, p.83-84). Pastore, 8.

[With:] LEWIS. Babbitt. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, n.d. [ca 1924]. 8vo. Original dark blue and orange cloth (rubbing); dust jacket (sunning to spine, rubbing, chipping along extremities). Photoplay edition. INSCRIBED BY SINCLAIR LEWIS TO MARIA LEWIS, "With love and Christmas greetings."