The Prodigal Judge

ONE OF A VERY FEW ADVANCE COPIES; HERE WITH THE 1922 MOVIE PROMOTIONAL

KESTER, Vaughan. The Prodigal Judge. With Illustrations by M. Leone Bracker. 8vo, original gilt-stamped brown boards, green cloth back, pp. [10], 448, fore & bottom edges uncut, top green. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill [cop. 1911]. WITH: First Trade Edition. PLUS: Vitagraph Company movie promotional material, Albert E. Smith Presents The Prodigal Judge...tall folio, 16pp., illustrated. [Brooklyn: N.Y., 1922].

"Advance Copy" of the First Edition, so stamped in gold on front cover. A novel centered on a salve insurrection. The last "Advance Copy" we have found for sale was offered by The Scribner Book Store in 1941. We have not located another copy of the movie promotional. A best-selling novel of racy characters from the North Carolina pine regions to West Tennessee, it was the second best-selling fiction book of 1911. Unfortunately the author didn't have much time to appreciate that success as he died in July 1911. Kester was a protégé of William Dean Howells who was his mother's cousin, but he unfortunately didn't get to appreciate the success of the novel as he died in July 1911. It was made into a play in 1913, and a silent movie directed by Edward José, starring Jean Paige and Macklyn Arbuckle (as the judge), released in 1922. "Kester is a significant figure in the history of early twentieth century American fiction. At least two characters from The Prodigal Judge, Slocum Price, the judge, and Cavendish, 'the man of title,' deserve to be remembered. No one, since Mark Twain, perhaps, has caught better the idiom of the American backwoodsman."-DAB. "This story of a mountain family, plagued by mistaken identities, a disowned daughter, a drunken judge, and an evil gang, ends happily with real names assumed, a marriage performed, and an inheritance claimed by its rightful owner."-Powell, North Carolina Fiction 1734-1957, #296.Illustrations did not appear in advance copies. Ownership signature "A. M. Martin, M[ar]ch 1911." WITH: a copy of the First Trade Edition (soiled), with illustrations, in original blue cloth, with "August twelfth Nineteen Eleven" gift inscription. WITH: Large folio, 16pp. illustrated pamphlet published by Vitagraph, being promotional material for their 1922 film made from the novel. Except for minor bumping of corners, a fine copy in cloth folding case. Smith, American Fiction, 1901-1925, K-166.