James Branch Cabell : An Illustrated Bibliography
BALLADES FROM THE HIDDEN WAY
Hall Code |
Description |
BHW-A1 |
First Printing 1928 |
COMPILATION
Full Title:
Title page recto: BALLADES | FROM THE HIDDEN WAY | JAMES BRANCH CABELL | [in decorative script] "De balader j'ay beau loisir" | [decoration in red - an ink drawing of a tree in a single ruled box] | CROSBY GAIGE | NEW YORK | 1928 (see image above).
Title page verso: COPYRIGHT, 1924, BY JAMES BRANCH CABELL | PRINTED IN U. S. A. (see image above).
Publication:
New York: Crosby Gaige, 1928.
Collation:
Thin medium octavo [24.8 cm. (9¾ in.) x 16.2 cm. (6⅜ in.)]; 1 blank leaf (not counted in pagination) + 44 pp. + 1 blank leaf; (1) title page; (2) publication data; (3)-(4) dedication; (5) introduction (verso blank); (7) CONTENTS (verso blank); (9) half-title, 10-41 text (verso blank) [all text pages are enclosed in an elaborate red boxed border with hanging vine motifs on the fore-edge]; (43) colophon (verso blank).
Binding:
Quarter bound in black cloth over gold decorated blue paper boards, gilt lettering on spine; top edge trimmed, else untrimmed. Spine: [lettered up the spine in italic] Ballades from the Hidden Way CABELL. Front and rear covers: decorated with four different concentric ruled boxes tooled in gold: outer box: thick rule; second box: thin rule: third box: dotted swag; inner box: floral vine (see image above).
Dedication:
FOR | MRS. MILLAMANT | [in italic] — "a fine Lady, but loves MIRABELL" — | THESE SIXTEEN DISINTERMENTS | [28-line poem in four stanzas, spread over two pages] (see images above).
Introduction:
[Short introduction of 24-lines in three paragraphs, signed by Mr. Cabell] (see image above).
Colophon:
[Crosby Gaige ram device in red] | EIGHT HUNDRED AND THIRTY-ONE | copies for sale on Vidalon and eight | copies on grey paper at the Printing House | of William Edwin Rudge. Each copy signed | by the author. Decorations and typography | by W. A. Dwiggins. Distributed in America | by Random House. No. 424 [ hand written in red ink] (see image above).
Dust jacket:
At The Silver Stallion we have seen a number of copies in dust jackets of plain, white (well, white at one time, anyway) jackets made of a thin, translucent parchment paper. We don't have any documentation to support this, but it does appear that the book was issued in this jacket (see image above).
Notes:
The text consists of sixteen ballads reprinted from From the Hidden Way, Hal FHW-A1. The only new material is the dedication and the short introduction, signed by Mr. Cabell, on page (5).
