William FAULKNER. A Fable. [New York:] Random House, [1954]. 1st ed, 1st printing, with dust-jacket

From the Dobo collection.

The first 36 lots in this sale are from the collection of Francis Dobo (1908-1998)

William FAULKNER (1897-1962). A Fable. [New York:] Random House, [1954]. Octavo (8 3/8 x 5 3/8 inches; 213 x 136 mm). Pp. [i-xi; 1-]4-437[-438 blank]. Original dark red cloth, upper cover with impressed design in blind and black, spine lettered in pink and silver, original dust jacket with "$4.75" printed price present on the front flap (small tears and chipping, light discoloration to backstrip of dust-jacket).

First edition, ‘first printing’ stated on the verso of the title page: the “crowning achievement of William Faulkner’s distinguished and honored career, A Fable has been nine years in the writing, from the time it was conceived in December of 1944 until it was completed. “ (flap of dust-jacket).

Francis Dobo: the “epitome of a 20th Century intellectual” Hungarian born Francis F. Dobo (1908-1998) was an important figure in the world of publishing, contemporary literature and photography for over half a century. He was lifelong friends with the renowned Hungarian masters of candid photography, Brassaï and André Kertész, first in Hungary and later in Paris in the 1930s. It was in Paris he encountered Henry Miller, Louis-Ferdinand Celine and Raymond Queneau: he corresponded and supported Miller from then on, and subsequently became Queneau’s U.S. agent.  Love of books and literature seems to have been a family trait: his uncle was Gabriel Wells (1861-1946), one of the two most important rare book dealers of his generation. The present selection includes a small number of books which belonged to Wells, with the rest being a cross section of the best of the contemporary literature which was such an important part of Francis’ life. William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Arthur Koestler, Christopher Isherwood, Norman Mailer, Franz Kafka are all here !