ART, POLITICS, AND WILL: ESSAYS IN HONOR OF LIONEL TRILLING - INSCRIBED TO DIANA TRILLING

New York: Basic Books, 1977. First Edition. American literary critic and intellectual powerhouse Lionel Trilling died of cancer in November, 1975. Soon after, three of Trilling's former Columbia University gradate students solicited works by a number of Trilling's former colleagues, comrades, and interlocutors to produce Art, Politics, and Will. The volume's high-profile contributors - ranging from Irving Howe to Edward Said - speak to Trilling's considerable influence on American letters. The familiar tone of this copy's inscription by the editors, and the associated letter's of conveyance of details about the editors' personal lives and progress on the publication, hint at literary critic Diana Trilling's intimate involvement with her husband's academic career and intellectual legacy. First Printing. Octavo (21.5cm); russet cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; yellow topstain; dustjacket; viii,295,[1]pp. With a moving inscription to Diana Trilling from Quentin Anderson, and signed by all three editors a month prior to publication: "July 12, 1977 / Inscribed to Diana by the editors with the hope that it suggests, however imperfectly, what we jointly and severelly [sic] feel of regret - and of pleasure and gratitude that Lionel was our friend. Quentin Anderson / Steven Marcus / Stephen Donadio." Fine in a Near Fine dustjacket, unclipped (priced $15.00), with trivial wear to extremities, and some yellowing to flaps and rear panel edges. Housed in a custom slipcase and chemise. Laid into this copy is a brief TLS, dated July 13, 1977, from Anderson to Trilling.