Desert Neighbors (inscribed By Edith M. Patch to the Exile Writers Committee)

Macmillan: New York, 1940. Octavo. Later Printing. Inscribed by the author. 170 pages, illustrated by Carol Lane Fenton, index. The Exiled Writers Committee was a project to raise money for writers who had been exiled by the Third Reich. They were a part of the anti-Stalinist left wing. In February 1941, they asked major authors who were in sympathy with the Exiled Writers to sign and inscribe a book for an auction to raise funds for them. (It should be no surprise that though its supporters were anti-Stalinist, the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover considered them subversive). Edith M. Patch was the first successful professional woman entomologist in the United States. "Greetings to the Exiled Writers Committee, February 14, 1941. Tenting in the various deserts of Southwestern United States for several months during the late winter and spring of 1936, I met the subject included in this book. I sent it with kind regards. Sincerely yours, Edith M. Patch." . Bound in light brown cloth lettered and decorated in dark brown, spinel lettering dark brown, light finger soiling, some wear to corners. A very good copy.