The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Social Sciences Research Centre, 1956.
Presentation copy of the first edition. (Printed three years before its American debut.) (viii), 162, (1) pp. Original stiff wraps. Laid in slip on U.S. Government stationary (interestingly enough), dated "5. Nov" and typed "Dear Dr. von Mering: Thanks for the interest. The price is $1.40, acceptable in any form, and not insisted on. I would, incidentally, be very interested in criticisms. Regards, [signed] Erving Goffman." The recipient was most likely German-born anthropologist Dr. Otto von Mering, a young assistant prof at University of Pittsburgh College of Medicine at the time and soon-to-be co-author of Remotivating the Mental Patient, which Goffman would cite in his later works. Presumably it is his underlines, brief marginal notations, and dog-eared pages throughout the text. Good with well-foxed and soiled covers that bow slightly. Ranked the tenth of ten "Books of the Century" by the International Sociological Association in 1998, Goffman's debut book introduced the use of theatrical imagery in sociology: dramaturgical analysis. Rare in its first printing, and especially so as a presentation copy.
Price: $2,500.00