James Branch Cabell : An Illustrated Bibliography
HAMLET HAD AN UNCLE: A Comedy of Honor
Hall Code |
Description |
HHU-A1a |
First Printing, Limited Edition |
COMPILATION
Full Title:
Title page recto: HAMLET HAD AN | UNCLE | [in italic] A Comedy of Honor | by | BRANCH CABELL | "Even with the very comment of thy soul | Observe my uncle." | [decoration] | DECORATED BY CHARLES CHILD | FARRAR & RINEHART, INC. | NEW YORK TORONTO (see image above).
Title page verso: [publisher's emblem] COPYRIGHT, 1940, BY JAMES BRANCH CABELL | PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | BY FERRIS PRINTING COMPANY, NEW YORK | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED (see image above).
Publication:
New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1940
Collation:
Medium octavo [21.6 cm. (8½ in.) x 15.2 cm. (6 in.)]; xxvi+272; (i) limitation (verso blank); (iii) half-title; (iv) books by Mr. Cabell; (v) title page; (vi) publication data; (vii) dedication (verso blank); (ix) quotation from Paul Du Chaillu (verso blank); (xi) fly-title PREFACE; (xii) quotation; (xiii-xix) preface (verso blank); (xxi-xxii) PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS; (xxiii-xxvi) CONTENTS; (1) fly-title; (2) quotation; 3-(270) text; (271) colophon (verso blank).
Binding:
Black morocco; gilt lettering and decorations on front cover and spine; t.e.g., else untrimmed. Spine: [rule] HAMLET | [in italic] Had An | Uncle | [triangle device] | BRANCH | CABELL | [rule] | FARRAR & | RINEHART. Front cover [Kalki device in upper center] (see image above).
Dedication:
[in italic] For | THE FORGOTTEN MAN | [6-line acrostic poem spelling "HAMLET"] (see image above).
Endpapers:
Pale green unmarked paper.
Dust jacket (Slipcase):
No dustjacket has been noted. The signed limited editions of both The King Was in His Counting House (KCH-A1a) and The First Gentleman of America (FG-A1a) were issued in clear plastic slipcases. No copy of this issue in a slipcase has been observed, but it is possible, even likely, that it had a similar slipcase.
At left is the limitation page from copy no. 104 of Hamlet had an Uncle, HHU-A1a. What makes this copy particularly interesting is that is not only signed by Mr. Cabell, but also by his wife Percy and his son Ballard. The additional inscription reads:
Reinscribed for Caroline Coleman Duke
with the best love of
Priscilla Bradley
Cabell
Ballard Cabell
James Branch Cabell
As noted in Perfect Companionship: Ellen Glasgow's Selected Correspondence with Women*, Mrs. Caroline Coleman Duke was a close friend of Glasgow's from childhood and throughout her life.
