James Branch Cabell : An Illustrated Bibliography
THE CREAM OF THE JEST: A Comedy of Evasions
Hall Code |
Description |
CoJ-A1 |
First Printing 1917 |
COMPILATION
Full Title:
Title page recto: THE | CREAM | OF THE | JEST | [rule] | [in italic] A Comedy of Evasions | [rule] | BY | JAMES BRANCH CABELL | [in italic] " Le pays où je voulais aller, tu m'y as mené | en songe, celte nuit, et tu étais belle . . . | ah! que tu étais belle! . . . Mais, comme | je n'ai aimé que ton ombre, tu me dispen- | seras, chère tête, de remercier ta réalité." | NEW YORK | ROBERT M. McBRIDE & COMPANY | 1917 (see image above).
Title page verso: Copyright, 1917, by | ROBERT M. McBRIDE & CO. | [rule] | [rule] | Published September, 1917 (see image above).
Publication:
New York: Robert M. McBride & Co., September 27, 1917
Collation:
Crown octavo [20 cm. (7 ⅞ in.) x 12.7 cm. (5 in.)]; pp. xvi + 280; (i) half title (verso blank); (iii) Books by Mr. Cabell; (iv) frontispiece; (v) title page; (vi) publication data; (vii) dedication (verso blank); (ix)-xi Contents (verso blank); xiii-xv Preface (verso blank); (1)-280 text; Printer's notice: VAIL-BALLOU CO., BINGHAMPTON AND NEW YORK at the foot of p. 280; pp. (1), (35), (101), (141), (193), and (247) are fly-titles; pp. (2), (34), (36), (102), (140), (142), (194), and (248) are blank.
Binding:
Red brown cloth; top edge trimmed, otherwise untrimmed; gilt lettering and decorations on front and spine. Spine: THE | CREAM | OF THE | JEST | [device of a gilt square] | CABELL | McBRIDE (see image above). Front cover: [within gilt stamped square] THE | CREAM | OF THE | JEST | [within gilt stamped square] JAMES BRANCH CABELL (see image above).
Frontispiece:
The Sigil of Scotia, a drawing by James Branch Cabell (see image above).
Also see the discussion of the Sigil of Scotia on the index page for The Cream of the Jest.
Dedication:
TO | LOUISA NELSON | [in italic] "At me ab amore tuo diducet | nulla senectus." (see image above).
Mrs. Louisa Nelson was Cabell's "mammy" as a child, and he remembered her fondly all of his life. He wrote an article about her, "Of Southern Ladies," which was published in the May, 1946, issue of The Atlantic Monthly. This article was later incorporated into Let Me Lie, LML-A1.
Dust jacket:
Black lettering and decorations on white paper. (see image above).
Spine: THE |CREAM | OF THE | JEST | CABELL | [in italic] $1.35 | net | McBRIDE
Front Panel: THE CREAM | OF THE JEST | [in italic] By James Branch Cabell | Author of "The Rivet in Grandfather's Neck," etc. | [device of the Sigil of Scotia] | The Sigil of Scotia | [7 line quotation purported to be by Richard Harrowby, a character in the book] | [in italic] For a Description of This Book | See the Reverse of This Jacket
Rear panel: New Fiction | [rule] | THE CREAM OF THE JEST | By James Branch Cabell | Author of "The Rivet in Grandfather's Neck," "The Certain Hour," etc. | 12mo. $1.35 net. Postage 10 cents. | [21 line blurb for The Cream of the Jest] | THE NEW GETHSEMANE | By Edward Lyell Fox | Illustrated by C. G. Bigelow | 12mo. 60 cents net. Postage 5 cents. | [8 line blurb for The New Gethsemane] | [rule] | Robert M. McBride & Co., Publishers, Union Square North, New York | [rule]
Front and Rear Flaps: not seen.
Notes:
Dust jacket scan supplied by Silver Stallion contributor Mike Berro, from a copy in his collection.
