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Main Street
by Lewis, Sinclair
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- As New with no dust jacket
- Seller
-
Palatine, Illinois, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Franklin Center, PA: The Franklin Library. As New with no dust jacket. 1978. Limited Edition. First Printing. Leather. Publisher's full black leather accented in 22kt gold, spine in five compartments separated by raised bands, gilt lettering and borders in two compartments, gilt tooling in remainder, printed on archival paper, a.e.g., navy moire silk endpapers, satin ribbon marker bound in, Smythe sewn, concealed joints. Illustrated with B&W drawings by Hal Ashmead. The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature is a limited edition collection published by The Franklin Library under the auspices of The American Revolution Bicentennial Administration.. This volume is in perfect, pristine condition, unmarked, unread, tight, square and clean. AS NEW. . The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature Series. B&W drawings. Small 4to 9" - 11" tall. 443 pp .
Synopsis
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis is a satirical novel concerning small town America. The story follows Carol Milford, a liberal and free-spirited woman, as she marries Dr. William Kennicott and settles in his hometown of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota. Upon arrival, Carol is shocked by the conservatism and general backwardness of Gopher Prairie—which is loosely based on Lewis’ hometown of Sauk Centre, Minnesota. The residents of Gopher Prairie seem more interested in gossip than larger cultural or social issues, which frustrates Carol. In various attempts to reform the town, she implements one improvement project after another, all of them ending in failure. In the end, Carol realizes that her frustrations with the individuals of the town should really have been directed towards its institutions and that although she was been beaten, she has kept the faith. Lewis initially seems to be attacking his small town roots in the novel, but his satire is double-edged; Main Street is not only a critique of simple townspeople, but also of the superficial intellectuals who look down on them. Main Street was not expected to be a commercial success. Lewis anticipated selling 10,000 copies; Harcourt, Brace and Howe anticipated 20,000. In the first six months of 1921, Main Street sold over 180,000 copies. Main Street is ranked 68th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century. The novel was initially awarded the Pulitzer Prize for literature that year, but the Board of Trustees overturned the decision and gave the prize to Edith Wharton for The Age of Innocence instead. (In 1925, Lewis rejected the Pulitzer Prize for Arrowsmith because he felt that he had deserved the prize for Main Street.)
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Details
- Bookseller
- Round Table Books, LLC
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 16744
- Title
- Main Street
- Author
- Lewis, Sinclair
- Illustrator
- Hal Ashmead
- Format/Binding
- Leather
- Book Condition
- New As New with no dust jacket
- Edition
- Limited Edition. First Printing
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- The Franklin Library
- Place of Publication
- Franklin Center, PA
- Date Published
- 1978
- Keywords
- Leather, Fiction;, Literature;, Americana
Terms of Sale
Round Table Books, LLC
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED - Any book may be returned in the same condition within 30 days of receipt for a full refund.
About the Seller
Round Table Books, LLC
Biblio member since 2008
Palatine, Illinois
About Round Table Books, LLC
Round Table Books, LLC lists rare, beautiful and interesting books. All books are described accurately, packed carefully and shipped promptly. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED - Any book may be returned within 30 days of receipt for a full refund.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Remainder
- Book(s) which are sold at a very deep discount to alleviate publisher overstock. Often, though not always, they have a remainder...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Raised Band(s)
- Raised bands refer to the ridges that protrude slightly from the spine on leather bound books. The bands are created in the...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
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