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MAIN STREET
by Lewis, Sinclair
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Rockville, Maryland, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Howe, 1920. First Edition, First Printing, First State. Hardcover. Octavo, 451 pages. In Very Good minus condition with a Very Good minus dust jacket. Later state dust jacket. Spine tan and blue with tan and blue lettering. Dust jacket protected in mylar covering. Mild shelf wear. Age toning and light soiling to covers and spine. Chipping along edges. Some soiling to edges of text block, with age toning to interior pages. Later state dust jacket, with "Co." printed on spine and 24th printing on the rear. Shelved in Case 2. 1372815. Shelved Dupont Bookstore.
Synopsis
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis is a satirical novel concerning small town America. The story follows Carol Milford, a liberal and free-spirited woman, as she marries Dr. William Kennicott and settles in his hometown of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota. Upon arrival, Carol is shocked by the conservatism and general backwardness of Gopher Prairie—which is loosely based on Lewis’ hometown of Sauk Centre, Minnesota. The residents of Gopher Prairie seem more interested in gossip than larger cultural or social issues, which frustrates Carol. In various attempts to reform the town, she implements one improvement project after another, all of them ending in failure. In the end, Carol realizes that her frustrations with the individuals of the town should really have been directed towards its institutions and that although she was been beaten, she has kept the faith. Lewis initially seems to be attacking his small town roots in the novel, but his satire is double-edged; Main Street is not only a critique of simple townspeople, but also of the superficial intellectuals who look down on them. Main Street was not expected to be a commercial success. Lewis anticipated selling 10,000 copies; Harcourt, Brace and Howe anticipated 20,000. In the first six months of 1921, Main Street sold over 180,000 copies. Main Street is ranked 68th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century. The novel was initially awarded the Pulitzer Prize for literature that year, but the Board of Trustees overturned the decision and gave the prize to Edith Wharton for The Age of Innocence instead. (In 1925, Lewis rejected the Pulitzer Prize for Arrowsmith because he felt that he had deserved the prize for Main Street.)
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Details
- Bookseller
- Second Story Books, ABAA
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 1372815
- Title
- MAIN STREET
- Author
- Lewis, Sinclair
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition, First Printing, First State
- Publisher
- Harcourt, Brace, and Howe
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1920
- Keywords
- American Literature
Terms of Sale
Second Story Books, ABAA
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged. Trade discounts only on items not identified on inventory with special discounts
International customers are responsible for all Duties/Taxes/VATs/etc. For domestic orders, anything valued $300 or more will be shipped signature required. Returns/Refunds will be handled per Biblio's return policy. Please contact us directly, via email, before sending anything back so that we can make the necessary arrangements. Refunds occur when the book is received and the errors/issues/damages have been confirmed.
About the Seller
Second Story Books, ABAA
Biblio member since 2010
Rockville, Maryland
About Second Story Books, ABAA
DC's Oldest Rare and Used Bookstore, Second Story Books operates two open shops in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. We have a large internet presence including this website, Amazon, and Ebay, accredited appraisals member ASA, and an in house book binder. For more information go to www.secondstorybooks.com
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- First State
- used in book collecting to refer to a book from the earliest run of a first edition, generally distinguished by a change in some...
- Chipping
- A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or...
- Text Block
- Most simply the inside pages of a book. More precisely, the block of paper formed by the cut and stacked pages of a book....
- Shelf Wear
- Shelf wear (shelfwear) describes damage caused over time to a book by placing and removing a book from a shelf. This damage is...
- Later State
- used in book collecting to refer to a book from a later run of a first edition, generally distinguished by a change in some part...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
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