STAFFORD, Jean

The Collected Stories

First edition. Near fine with the usual browning to the pages in near fine dustwrapper with a short, internally mended tear. This copy Inscribed by the author to an important collector, Horace Walpole scholar, and espionage officer: "For my old friend, Wilmarth Lewis with all good wishes, Jean Stafford." Additionally Inscribed: "Brendan says Sign Here, and I do so, with affection. Geoffrey Hellman" and finally, Inscribed by the aforementioned Brendan: "A Four-way association copy! Good God, it may be unheard of in literary annals! Your devoted friend and admirer, Brendan Gill April 3 / 69 Chez Sonnenberg." Lewis was an interesting figure -- he began as a literary historian but this led to lasting contributions in the field of espionage. He developed extensive information storage and cross-referencing techniques in the process of creating Yale University Press's landmark 48-volume edition of the letters of Horace Walpole. Based on this experience, in late 1941, Lewis became chief of the Central Information Division (CID), a government agency charged with organizing vast bodies of knowledge so that any crucial military question could be answered quickly. His system became the model for other government information systems as well. A collection of short stories that won the Pulitzer Prize. Most of the stories appeared first in the New Yorker, and this is a splendid association to that magazine: Gill wrote for the magazine for over sixty years, Hellman for about forty years.

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