THESE THIRTEEN

New York: Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith, 1931. First printing. Very good plus in very good jacket.. First trade edition, first issue of the first collection of Faulkner short stories, including classics like "A Rose for Emily," "Victory," and "That Evening Sun." This collection of short stories was published in the same year as SANCTUARY, the controversial novel that truly brought William Faulkner to the literary world's attention; he is billed on the dust jacket as "Author of SANCTUARY." Known for his visceral depictions of the decline of the South after the Civil War, many of the stories in this volume are tied to Faulkner's novels in theme, geographical location, and characters. This connection is explicit in "That Evening Sun," which features the children of the Compson family, describing events that took place before their tragic downfall in THE SOUND AND THE FURY. An attractive copy of a title that augments Faulkner's longer works. 7.75'' x 5''. Original blue and grey cloth with red spine lettering. Original unclipped ($2.50) pictorial dust jacket, designed by Arthur Hawkins Jr. Black topstain, fore-edge machine deckle. Blue and white geometrically-patterned endpapers. 358 pages. First issue, with error on contents page ("280" for "208"). Jacket spine sunned with a small stain at the crown. Mild shelf, edge-wear overall. Touches of soil here and there. Else clean and sound.