Silk: A Legend as Narrated in the Journals and Correspondence of Jan Po
[np]: [no publisher], (1922)-1923.
Original handwritten manuscript of the 1923 novel. 3 single page manuscript letters by Merwin, including two original envelopes, 125 numbered manuscript pages, tipped-in on larger blank pages. Rectos only. Folio, finely bound in red calf with gilt borders, gilt design on top board, spine with raised bands and gilt-decorated compartments, lettered in gilt. House in red cloth slipcase. Near Fine with sunning and light rubbing to spine; first manuscript page laid in loose. Slipcase a little discolored with boards starting to separate, head a little frayed.
The original handwritten manuscript of Merwin's historical novel set in China, with penciled and inked edits and corrections throughout in the author's hand. Among the edits are Merwin's decision to abandon a false "editorial" role in favor of outright authorship. Tipped in at the front are three pages of correspondence from March 1923 from Merwin in Concord, Massachusetts to screenwriter Albert "Bert" S. LeVino, discussing aspects of the manuscript, including N.C. Wyeth's plans to paint color plates for the first edition.
Samuel Merwin, Sr. (1874-1936) was an American playwright and author. After attending Northwestern University, he worked between 1905 and 1911 as associate editor and then editor of Success magazine. In 1907 the magazine sent him to China to investigate the opium trade. His novels and stories were often historical, romantic, war-themed, and/or set in the Far East, often with feminist themes. The first edition of Silk was published in 1923 by Houghton Mifflin, illustrated with color plates by N.C. Wyeth. It would be reprinted during the 1940s in the UK as a Penguin paperback.
Price: $1,000.00