America, I Presume

NY: Howell, Soskin & Co, (1940). First edition. Presentation copy, inscribed on the front free endpaper: "To John Slocum with cordial salutations from his friend W. L. Aug. 1940." At the time, John Jermain Slocum was Lewis's exclusive but ultimately ineffectual American literary agent, representing the fledgling firm of Russell & Volkening, Inc., and as ill-luck would have it, also Lewis's benefactor. From July through October 1940, Lewis and his wife lived in the Jermain House on Main Street in Sag Harbor, Long Island, courtesy of Slocum. It was at Jermain House that Lewis finished work on The Vulgar Streak. In financial distress at the time, Lewis borrowed $375.00 from Slocum, a sum that he never repaid; nor, however, did Slocum succeed in finding a publisher for Lewis's work. - Paul O'Keeffe, Some Sort of Genius. A Life of Wyndham Lewis. Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint, (2000), p. 421-425. Back panel of dust jacket faintly discolored as usual, otherwise a fine copy. . Back panel of dust jacket faintly discolored as usual, otherwise a fine copy. .