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Main Street: The Story of Carol Kennicott
by Lewis, Sinclair
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good+ with no dust jacket
- Seller
-
Traverse City, Michigan, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Harcourt, Brace & Howe. Very Good+ with no dust jacket. 1920. First Edition. Hardcover. This is the first edition, but a later issue (probably a second "state') as the number "4" on page 54 is imperfect as is the letter "y" in the word "may" on the bottom of page 387. The book was originally expected to sell 10 - 20,000 copies, but in the first year sold 180,000 copies--the publisher kept printing copies since the demand was so high. The original printing plates became worn, thus causing the changes in the text noted above. The Pulitzer jury awarded their prize to Lewis for this book, but it was overturned by the Board and the award instead went to Edth Wharton for "The Age of Innocence." Original blue cloth publishers binding with orange decorations. A nice clean, tight and unmarked book with no interior or exterior markings and no significant shelf wear. This offers an opportunity to own ; 12mo 7" - 7½" tall; 451 pages .
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
- Peninsula Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 19567
- Title
- Main Street: The Story of Carol Kennicott
- Author
- Lewis, Sinclair
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good+ with no dust jacket
- Edition
- First Edition
- Publisher
- Harcourt, Brace & Howe
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1920
- Keywords
- Fiction, First Editions, Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize
Terms of Sale
Peninsula Books
We ship every business day via US Mail as well as other shippers and all shipments come with tracking numbers. You may return your item within 7 days with prior notice if not as described. Book plates, previous owners' names, remainder marks, price clipped dust jackets, and minor cover and dust jacket flaws are not always noted -- PLEASE INQUIRE if this is important to you! We are happy to answer your questions! Every effort is made to accurately describe and price each book, however errors occur occasionally and we reserve the right to correct any mistakes made in cataloging our books. All orders shipped without insurance are sent at buyer's risk! Our advertised shipping rates are for a parcel weighing less than two pounds. If your order is heavy or oversize, we may contact you requesting additional shipping. All items listed are subject to prior sale. Institutions may be billed--please inquire.
About the Seller
Peninsula Books
Biblio member since 2023
Traverse City, Michigan
About Peninsula Books
Peninsula Books has been providing fine and rare books to collectors, institutions and the book trade since 1980. We have a select general stock of books and specialize in Americana in its many forms. We welcome your inquiries and are always happy to answer any questions about our books. Email is usually the quickest way to have your questions answered.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Good+
- A term used to denote a condition a slight grade better than Good.
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Shelf Wear
- Shelf wear (shelfwear) describes damage caused over time to a book by placing and removing a book from a shelf. This damage is...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- 12mo
- A duodecimo is a book approximately 7 by 4.5 inches in size, or similar in size to a contemporary mass market paperback. Also...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
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