Beyond Dark Hills

VERY GOOD — DUST JACKET: Wear & tear to top and bottom edges of spine, panels, folds and flaps. Chipping to top and bottom of spine, and corresponding edges of top. Chipping to top outside corners, both panels. Closed tears to top and bottom edges, both panels, primarily front. Tears mended on reverse with archival tape. BOARDS: Very good condition. No issues. BOOK: Topstain; stains/spotting to same. A couple of tape ghosts to front endpapers. Please inspect photos closely for condition details.

Here on offer is a very nice copy of Jesse Stuart's first autobiography, Beyond Dark Hills, originally submitted as a term paper when he was a graduate student at Vanderbilt University in 1932. Six years later his "term paper" was published as a book by E. P. Dutton in 1938. This copy is a 1st edition thus, 1st printing of the work republished by McGraw Hill in 1972 and INSCRIBED by the author on the FFEP. The dust jacket is protected from further wear by a Mylar sleeve.

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"Beyond Dark Hills was originally written by Jesse Stuart as a graduate school assignment at Vanderbilt University. Assigned to write an 18 page personal narrative, he turned in 322 pages about a seemingly simple farm boy and his family. His professor said, "I have been teaching for forty years and I have never read anything so...beautiful, tremendous and powerful..."

Stuart shares with the reader all his youthful anxieties as he prepares for life and then ventures forth on his own. He freely shares his frustrations and successes, as he examines the forces that mold and shape him into a worldfamous author and educator."

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Jesse Hilton Stuart (August 8, 1906 – February 17, 1984) was an American writer, school teacher, and school administrator who is known for his short stories, poetry, and novels as well as non-fiction autobiographical works set in central Appalachia. Born and raised in Greenup County, Kentucky, Stuart relied heavily on the rural locale of northeastern Kentucky for his writings. Stuart was named the poet laureate of Kentucky in 1954.

. . . The natural settings of W Hollow were prominent throughout Stuart's writings. Prior to his death he donated 714 acres (2.89 km2) of woodlands in W Hollow to the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves. The Jesse Stuart State Nature Preserve is dedicated to protecting the legacy of Stuart, and ensures that a significant portion of W Hollow will remain undeveloped in perpetuity. The trail system is open to the public from dawn to dusk all year long.

The above text was taken from, respectively, Jesse Stuart Foundation and Wikipedia.