GARDEN WITHOUT FLOWERS by WILLA THOMPSON - 1957

Boston: Beacon Press, 1957. Hardcover. 186p., first edition in lightly-worn red cloth boards and edgeworn, unclipped dj. European novel by white Boston author who had an affair with Chester Himes while in France. Himes claimed to have co-written the book threatening a law suit just pre-publication.

Boston: Beacon Press, 1957. Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. First edition. Octavo. Red cloth printed in white on spine. Small ink name front fly, else fine copy in near fine dust jacket with along but subtle 3" tear, archivally mended on the verso. jacket is bright. The author was a descendant of John Hancock and other notable New Englanders, during WWII she worked with OSS... and was later an administrator at the American Hospital in Paris. According to Chester Himes' autobiography, he contributed to the original manuscript of this novel by Thompson, but when her relationship with Himes ended prior to publication, she revised the text without his participation.

Rough cut, minimal library distinctions, pocket removed, else contents appear as unread & unblemished in very good red cloth covered boards, displaying a few mini spots through DJ holes. DJ displays surface/edge/wear, as shown, with reinforced closed tears and open tears.
A note of interest about this edition: Willa Thompson, a Caucasian female of high social family and status, was engaged in an affair in the mid to late '40's with the renowned Black-American author, Chester Himes ("Cotton Comes To Harlem," "If He Hollers Let Him Go") … The affair ended somewhere around 1953 when Himes took personal exile in France to escape the devastations of personal attacks on blacks in the US … For those followers of Himes and his works, there is no question that the claims he lays out in his autobiographical "Fin d'un Primitive" and other writings are substantiated by some unmistakeable content in "Garden Without Flowers" which he contributed to the book in collaboration… Read More