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Peyton Place
by Metalious, Grace
- Used
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Portland, Oregon, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Julian Messner Inc, 1956. First Edition. First edition, first printing. Signed by Grace Metalious on the front free endpaper, inscribed to former owner two weeks after publication. [vi], 372 pp. Bound in publisher's slick black cloth with silver spine lettering. Rubbing to cloth along edges, else Near Fine with former owner's name on front free endpaper above signature, in a Near Fine dust jacket with light edge wear, bright and unfaded, unclipped ($3.95). An attractive copy.
The runaway bestseller about life in a New England town that inspired a series of hit films and TV shows, quite rare signed. The author was a lower middle class housewife in Durham, New Hampshire when she wrote the novel. Its immense success in popular culture (especially as as soap opera franchise, which would sustained over four decades) blindsided her and she drank herself to death at 39. Peyton Place remains of the bestselling books in American publishing history. And while the book has been less read in recent decades the title is still synonymous with scandal in popular culture.
Synopsis
The plot of Peyton Place is quite controversial among modern first editions, and the history of its publication is just as scandalous. Peyton Place was largely based off of the small town scandals that were known to plague several New England towns. Some of the places and characters so closely resembled their real life counterparts that author Grace Metalious was actually sued for libel. Some of the people in these towns were particularly distraught that their communities were depicted so negatively, the reception of Peyton Place nearly drove Metalious into hiding. The book was first published by Julian Messner, Inc in 1956, and it was an instant hit. Through word of mouth, it sold approximately 60,000 copies in the first two weeks of its publication, and it stayed on the New York Time best seller list for 59 weeks. It was so popular, it was adapted into a film and into a multi-year daytime soap opera. The first US edition dust jacket is fairly plain and the paper quality was low, so the jacket is likely to be browned or yellowed with age. Famously, Metalious was sued for libel by one of the people who was included in the book. Tomas Makris was featured in Peyton Place , and his name and physical characteristics matched the real-life individual. Notably, the character's name in UK edition was changed to Michael Kyros, and the character's name was changed in later US editions to Michael Rossi. In a shocking twist that infuriated many, Metalious had actually forged Makris' name on the release form. Such behavior is of course condemned by the literary community.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 140943883
- Title
- Peyton Place
- Author
- Metalious, Grace
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- Publisher
- Julian Messner Inc
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1956
- Keywords
- soap operas, New England, scandal, signed, female authors
- Bookseller catalogs
- Literature;
Terms of Sale
Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
Biblio member since 2010
Portland, Oregon
About Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
Burnside Rare Books specializes in literary first editions and works of cultural and historic significance. We are located in Portland, Oregon and welcome visitors by appointment.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- 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....
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Inscribed
- When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- 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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