James Branch Cabell : An Illustrated Bibliography
JURGEN: A Comedy of Justice
McBride Printings
Hall Code |
Description |
Jur-C1 |
First American Illustrated Edition 1923 |
COMPILATION
Full Title:
Title page recto: JURGEN: | A COMEDY OF JUSTICE | BY JAMES BRANCH CABELL | WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS BY | RAY F. COYLE [row of three devices] | [in italic]"Of JURGEN eke they maken mencioun | That of an old wyf gat his youthe agoon, | And gat himselfe a shirte as bright as fyre | Wherein to jape, yet gat not his desire | In any countrie ne condicioun." | ROBERT M. McBRIDE & COMPANY | NEW YORK: 1923 [row of three devices] (see image above).
Title page verso: Copyright, 1919, by | JAMES BRANCH CABELL | Illustrated Edition | Copyright, 1923, by | Robert M. McBride & Co. | [rule] | [in italic] Printed in the | United States of America (see image above).
Publication:
New York: Robert M. McBride & Co., December, 1923
Publication date from the publication data of the third printing, Jur-C3.
Collation:
Small royal octavo [24.4 cm. (9⅝ in.) x 16.5 cm. (6½ in.); 1 blank leaf + xii + 368, with 12 tipped-in illustrations including frontispiece (not counted in pagination); (1 blank leaf not included in pagination); (i) half-title; (ii) Books by Mr. Cabell; (not counted in pagination) recto blank, verso frontispiece; (iii) title page; (iv) publication data; (v) dedication; (vi) quotations; (vii)-(viii) Contents; (ix) Illustrations (verso blank); (1) fly-title, A FOREWORD (verso blank); (3)-(6) text of foreword; (7) fly-title JURGEN (verso blank); 9-368 text. Illustrations face pages (iii) 16, 32, 64, 106, 148, 208, 236, 262, 276, 346, and 368.
Binding:
Black cloth, gilt lettering on spine and front cover; top edge trimmed and stained red, else untrimmed. Spine: [in decorative Gothic script] Jurgen | Cabell | [at base of spine] McBride. Front cover: [in decorative Gothic script] Jurgen | A Comedy of Justice | by | James Branch Cabell (see image above).
Frontispiece:
"I Am Jurgen Who Seeks He Knows Not What" [drawing by Ray F. Coyle] (see image above).
Dedication:
TO | BURTON RASCOE | [dedication in acrostic verse of three quatrains] (see image above).
Endpapers:
Black and grey marbled paper (see image above).
Dust jacket:
Red paper, black lettering and decorations (see image above).
Spine: [double rule] [in decorative Gothic script] Jurgen | [device] | James | Branch | Cabell | [double rule] | With | illustrations | by | Ray F. Coyle | McBride | [double rule]
Front panel: [double rule] [in decorative Gothic script] Jurgen | A Comedy of Justice | by | James Branch Cabell | With Twelve Illustrations | By Ray F. Coyle | [Kalki device in lower right corner] | [double rule]
Rear panel: blank
Front flap: [device] | [coupon for Book News]
Rear flap: blank
Notes:
Ray Frederick Coyle (b. 1884) died of appendicitis on April 22, 1924, just a few months after this illustrated edition of Jurgen was published. He was beginning to develop a following as both an Art Deco artist and an interior designer when he unexpectedly died at the age of forty. According to reports published at the time, he had suffered damage to his health during his service with the YMCA in France during WWI (he was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his actions), which contributed to his early death.
