William FAULKNER. Light in August. [NY]: Harrison Smith & Robert Haas, [1932]. 1st ed, 1st pr.

From the Dobo collection.

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

William FAULKNER (1897-1962). Light in August. [New York]: Harrison Smith & Robert Haas, [1932]. Octavo (8 x 5 ¼ inches; 203 x 133 mm).  Pp. [i-iv;]1-480]. Title incorporating a large vignette illustration. (Overall light toning, occasional light spotting or soiling).  Original first issue brown cloth, upper cover blocked in orange, spine blocked in dark blue, top edge brown/orange (binding worn, stitching shaken, slight lean to bookblock).

First edition, ‘October 1932 - first printing’ stated on the verso of the title page. First issue with ‘Jefferson’ in place of ‘Mottstown’ in the first line on p.340. A candidate for rebinding?

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 !