Lot 553: William Faulkner Go Down Moses 1st Edition, Plus Boyd Saunders Lithograph

1st Item: GO DOWN, MOSES AND OTHER STORIES by William Faulkner (1897-1962). New York: Random House, 1942. 8vo. Original publisher’s black cloth stamped in gold and red, top edges stained red; dust jacket. First Edition, First Printing of the trade issue. Contains seven interrelated stories, with “The Bear” arguably the most powerful and renowned. Book dimensions are 8 1/2 in. H and 5 3/4 in. W.

2nd Item: J. Boyd Saunders (South Carolina, b. 1937) lithograph titled “Plate #7 from ‘The Bear'”; one of Saunders’ works for the illustrated edition of “Go Down, Moses.” Sight 22 1/4 in H x 17 in W. Framed: 27 1/2 in H x 22 in W.  In addition to this print, Saunders also illustrated Faulkner’s works “The Spotted Horses” and “The Sound and the Fury.” Biographical Note: Just after he began graduate school at the University of Mississippi in the early 1960s, Boyd was wandering around in the woods near campus with his sketchbook when he ran into William Faulkner. Boyd neither recognized him nor had read any of his works, but as he developed a collegial relationship with the celebrated writer, he began studying his literature in earnest, reading everything he could find. Faulkner died in July 1962 while the pair was in the process of collaborating on an illustrated printing of Faulkner’s short story “The Bear.” The completed project nonetheless became the centerpiece for Boyd’s master’s thesis. (Source: the Columbia Metropolitan, September 2019)

CONDITION: Book with toning and some soiling to page block; previous owner’s name written inside; jacket in poor condition with 6 in. tear to front cover, with price intact; additional jacket blurb adhered to front pastedown. Lithograph in excellent condition.