James Branch Cabell : An Illustrated Bibliography
THE JUDGING OF JURGEN
Hall Code |
Description |
JoJ-A1a |
Large Paper Edition 1920 |
COMPILATION
Full Title:
Title page recto: The Judging of Jurgen | By | James Branch Cabell | [device of the dolphin and anchor emblem of Aldus Manutius] | CHICAGO | THE BOOKFELLOWS | 1920 (see image above).
Title page verso: The Judging of Jurgen, by James Branch Cabell, BOOKFELLOW | No. 513, is reprinted by permission from the NEW YORK | TRIBUNE. Acknowledgement is also made to Vincent Starrett, | BOOKFELLOW No. 8. | [in italic] This is the Bookly Joy for October, 1920 (see image above).
Publication:
Chicago: The Bookfellows, October 1920.
Collation:
Thin imperial octavo, [29.1 cm. (11 7/16 in.) x 22.2 cm. (8 ¾ in.)]; 16 pp.; (1) half title (verso blank); (iii) title page; (iv) publication data; (v) sonnet by Vincent Starrett (verso blank); 4 line author's note by James Branch Cabell, reproduced in his hand and dated 29 May 1920 (verso blank); text 9-13; (14) reprint of the dedication of Jurgen in acrostic verse, preceded by a 3 line introduction; (15) limitation (verso blank).
Binding:
Quarter bound. Red cloth spine with dark brown paper boards. Spine blank, white paper label on front cover. All untrimmed. Front cover: The Judging of Jurgen | By James Branch Cabell (see image above).
Sonnet by Vincent Starrett: In Gratitude
JBC: In Gratitude - In place of the usual dedication, there is a sonnet by Vincent Starrett, thanking Mr. Cabell for his creation of Jurgen (see image above).
Author's Note:
In a facsimile of Mr. Cabell's hand:
In this, as in every other fable | I have written about Jurgen, I have | endeavored to write that wherein | each man will find what his nature | enables him to see. | James Branch Cabell | 29 May 1920 (see image above).
Moral:
NOW THE MORAL OF THE JUDGING OF JURGEN, WHICH | IS ALSO THE DEDICATION OF JURGEN, IS, AS IT WAS IN | THE BEGINNING :
Followed by the dedicatory verse from Jurgen, a 12-line acrostic poem in three stanzas, the initial letters reading "BURT ONRA SCOE" (see image above).
Limitation:
This edition consists of six copies.
Written by hand in black ink on the recto of the last leaf, presumably by Flora Warren Seymour (see image above).
Endpapers:
Front pastedown: [above] Bookfellows bookplate for James Branch Cabell, Bookfellow No. 513; [center] Mr. Cabell's personal bookplate; [lower left] autograph initials FWS [Flora Warren Seymour] (see image above).
Front free endpaper: [in Mr. Cabell's hand] Property of | James Branch Cabell (see image above).
Dust jacket:
Not seen.
Notes:
This is Mr. Cabell's personal copy of JoJ-A1a, now resident in the Cabell Room at the James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University. These scans were made by Ray Bonis. One small detail worth noting: at bottom left of the front pastedown are the stylized initials "FWS." These are the initials of Flora Warren Seymour, founder and head of The Bookfellows, and also the binder who hand-bound the copies of both JoJ-A1a and JoJ-A1b. See the small write-up about her on the index page for The Judging of Jurgen.
