The Broken Bell

Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1912. Hardcover. Very Good+/Very Good. Illustrated by Frank Craig. Boards in maroon cloth with gilt lettering and blind-stamped pictorials on spine and front cover. Interior is unmarked. Pages show a bit of foxing and a very few spots of minor soiling. A couple leaves are roughly opened. Four plates (including frontispiece with tissue guard) with illustrations by Frank Craig. Dust jacket has some speckled spots and a few edge chips; in an archival mylar sleeve. pp. 276, [1]. Rare dust jacket. A novel of the heart, set in Italy, colorfully replete with Italian character and atmosphere. The title The Broken Bell was chosen by the author as a metaphor for a woman's heart, which today may be broken, but which tomorrow may be recast to ring as sweetly as ever. The heroine is an American woman, transplanted to Italy an early age, who finds herself wed to a faithless husband. The author, Marie Van Vorst (1867-1936), was a popular American novelist who lived in New York, but who also spent time at an Italian summer home just outside of Rome. The Broken Bell, at the time of publication, was regarded as comparable to the Italian romances of F. Marion Crawford.