LETTERS TO A PAGAN. [28 Letters To & From Hearn To Countess Annetta Halliday

Detroit 1933, Powers. Gold cloth spine over green boards, very clean, bit of foxing to end papers, dust jacket, 119p., Hearn frontispiece, 16 x 22cm., a very good example. * * FIRST & ONLY LIMITED & HAND-NUMBERED EDITION OF 550 * * . *** **** *** . .FIRST & ONLY LIMITED, HAND-NUMBERED EDITION OF 550 COPIES . . . THE LITERARY CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN HEARN & THE COUNTESS . . . TWENTY-EIGHT LETTERS: 1871-1901 . * Being the correspondence of Lafcadio Hearn with the Countess Annetta Halliday Antona of Detroit. . Hearn gave the Countess a nickname "PAGAN." Per Powers, the publisher on p.10,: "While in New Orleans, Hearn was told of her [Countess] defense of his character before a group of scoffers. There after Hearn called her 'Pagan.'" . In an early letter from Hearn to the Countess, he wrote: "Only a pagan understands how to garner one hour of unforgettable beauty from each day of the eternal pageant." See p.20, et al. . With a fascinating forward by Powers and "Notes" which are actually a biography, bibliography & chronology of Hearn. . With frontispiece drawing in green & black by Joseph Sparks. . * Per the limitation colophon, it states: "This is the first of the Laughing Dragon Books. The edition is limited to five hundred and fifty copies and is printed in Garamond on Arnold Unbleached paper from England. The type has been distributed. This is number [green ink penned in]. . *** Color photos are posted to our website. . *** CONDITION: Generic: The book was bound in gold cloth spine with black spine titles over gold-flecked paper. The top and bottom edges trimmed, fore edge rough, issued with an orange dust jacket, contained in a glossy-black textured paper-covered board slipcase. Complete as issued, . Not all copies are the same, each varies in condition, please carefully read the copy description prior to ordering. . Additional notes on each copy: . Copy 1: With a 1933 signed & dated letter from the publisher lightly tipped inside front cover, A bright example, solid & firm. Dust jacket has a couple tiny nicks, corner wear, slipcase has a touch of the usual corner, edge wear, else far and above average example. . Copy 2: A bright example, solid & firm, with a bit of foxing inside front & back cover. Dust jacket has a been reinforced from inside spine with craft tape, a bit rubbed at 'pull out,' else very nice, slipcase has a touch of the usual corner, edge wear, else far and above average example. . Copy 3: Corner & edge wear, else firm & solid, contents pristine, with former owner's bookplate, no dust jacket or slipcase. . Copy 4: A bright example, solid & firm. Dust jacket in mylar, lacks spine, balance clean, complete, no slipcase, else book contents bright, far and above average example. . Copy 5. Covers a bit of damp stain on lower spine & end papers which are a bit foxed. Dust jacket unclipped, a tiny bit stained at spine, else clean, solid, example, contents brilliantly clean. . Copy 6: Book firm & solid, edges & corners rubbed, front cover paper spotted along leading edge, small chip, else contents bright, clean & solid . . Copy 7: Book firm & solid, edges & corners rubbed, paper cover a bit chipped, inside first/last fly leaf gutter bit foxed, else contents bright and clean. . *** .