Between the Covers

Unbound. Two brass die-stamps. Spine stamp measures 5.5" x .75". Front board stamp is irregularly shaped and is 4" x 2.5" at its biggest points.Original patina, else fine. The binder's stamp for the spine and front board of the first hardcover edition of the play ("Chase / Harvey / Oxford") in reverse script. The comedic play was a success on Broadway, running for five years and winning a Pulitzer Prize, but wasn't published in hardcover until after the success of the 1950 film directed by Henry Koster and starring James Stewart, Josephine Hull, and Peggy Dow. The binding and the jacket were both designed by noted graphic designer and cartoonist R.O. Blechman. There was an acting edition published in wrappers in 1950.

The provenance presents a mildly interesting story: a colleague was buying books out of the trunk of a gentleman's car and noticed a group of wartime brass die-stamps from the Oxford University Press. My colleague inquired and the gentleman revealed that his next stop was the scrap yard where he was going to sell the dies to be melted down for the brass. My colleague paid him double the scrap price for them. We paid a bit more. A unique artifact from a play that is extremely uncommon in its own right.

Item #403263