BABBITT.
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, [1922]. Original dark blue cloth lettered in orange.
First Edition, first issue, of the second of Lewis's five great satires of the 1920s (following MAIN STREET, and followed by ARROWSMITH, ELMER GANTRY and DODSWORTH).
George Follansbee Babbitt, an enterprising, moral, stereotyped, and prosperous real estate broker of the typical Midwestern city of Zenith, has been trained to believe in the virtues of home life, the Republican party, and the middle-class conventions. Suddenly tiring of his life... During his wife's absence, he tries to find an outlet from Zenith standards. After an unsuccessful and lonely trip to Maine, he enters into a liaison with Mrs. Tanis Judique, an attractive widow... He next turns to liberalism, when impressed by Seneca Doane, a socialist lawyer. For this added heresy he is ostracized by all right-minded citizens... [OCAL]
This copy is in the first state, with the erroneous name "Purdy" (later corrected to "Lyte") in line 4 of p. 49. Condition is very good-plus (spine slightly faded, a little foxing on the endpapers). A "Johnson High Spot" (pp 50-51). [Note: this copy came to us with a facsimile first-issue dust jacket, which we shall pass along if a buyer wishes.]. Item #14992
Price: $250.00