[The Snopes Trilogy, comprising:] The Hamlet; The Town; The Mansion de FAULKNER, William (1897-1962) - 1940

New York: Random House [through 1959], 1940. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine-/Fine-. Three First Printings (so stated), a superb set of Faulkner's masterful trilogy. 8vo: [8],421,[1]; [8],371,[1]; [12],436pp. The Hamlet: Publisher's black V-cloth, spine and upper cover ruled in red and lettered in gold, top edge stained red, full-color pictorial title page tipped-in; second-issue pictorial dust jacket (four reviews excerpted on back panel), with particularly vibrant front panel, priced $2.50. About Fine (spine gilt slightly dulled) and apparently unread, in about Fine jacket with brief edge wear. The Town: Publisher's first issue claret-colored V-cloth (line 8 repeated on line 10, p. 327), spine and upper cover lettered in gold and ruled in blue-grey, top edge stained blue-grey, grey threaded end papers; first issue pictorial dust jacket (with 5/57 publisher's code on front flap), priced $3.95. Fine (barring small collector's label on upper corner of front end paper), square and tight, gilt lettering sharp and bright; about Fine jacket barely rubbed to toe of spine panel. The Mansion: Publisher's blue V-cloth, upper cover and spine ruled in grey and lettered in gold, top edge stained yellow, blue end papers; first-issue pictorial dust jacket, price $4.75, with publisher's code "10/59" on front flap and author's photograph by Ralph R. Thompson on back panel. Fine, in equally Fine jacket. Petersen A22.1d, A47.1b, and A52.2b. Man Working 56, 141, 347. Burgess 99, p. 73. The Snopes novels had their origin in the 1920s, in stories swapped back and forth between Faulkner and Phil Stone, an Oxford, Mississippi, attorney, about the rise of poor whites in social, political, and economic competition with the old Southern aristocracy. The series traces the rise of the Snopeses in Frenchman's Bend and Jefferson, Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi. Malcolm Cowley, in his New Republic review of The Hamlet, judged it to be "a new sort of novel for William Faulkner, less somber, more easygoing and discursive. Except for a few short stories, it makes better reading than anything else he has written since Sanctuary." (The Literary Encyclopedia) And Burgess noted, "Turgid and difficult as he is, Faulkner is worth the trouble." N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, with dust jackets carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).