Dream's End
New York: Robert M. McBride & Company, 1927. First edition. 8vo, 342pp. Publisher's blue cloth stamped in gilt, in illustrated jacket. Boards slightly bowed, some pushing at spine ends else nearly fine. Very good jacket shows wear and rubbing along joints, soiling to spine and rear panel, and minor chipping at corners. Early novel from the American writer, James Thorne Smith, Jr. (1892-1934). This work followed on the heels of his most popular work, a humorous ghost story of sorts called "Topper: An Impossible Adventure," published in 1926. Dream's End is more a serious romance, but does contain a supernatural element, as described by Bleiler in his Guide to Supernatural Fiction, when "an abnormal empathy develops" between the protagonists, David Landor and Hilda, "during Laondor's dreams. Hilda's husband rapes her; she leaves him and dies - - Landor knowing this through their paranormal sympathy." The book, though not highly regarded among Smith's output, is uncommon in jacket. Bleiler 1495. Item #4921
Price: $750.00