Description:

Nathanael West
New York, NY, ca. 1931
Nathanael West Ltd. Edition 348/500 of "The Dream Life of Balso Snell"
Books
A limited edition copy of "The Dream Life of Balso Snell" by Nathanael West. Paris and New York: Contact Editions, 1931. First edition, first printing. One of 500 numbered copies, this being No. 348. Octavo, 95pp. Publisher's original wrappers, blue and black geometric design to front wrapper, titles in black. With a celluloid dustjacket, housed in a red slipcase. The volume has toned edges. Chipping, small tears, and minor loss to the paper wraps. Additional toning and staining to the wraps. Soiling and wear to the slipcase. Overall a very good copy of West's scarce first novel.

Nathanael West's surrealistic and irreverent debut, "The Dream Life of Balso Snell", follows a poet who comes across the Trojan Horse. Upon climbing into it, he meets various representatives of different literary forms - "writers in search of an audience" - and nihilistically rejects their ideas one by one. West himself called it "a protest against writing books." This limited run of 500 copies was the only edition released in West's lifetime. Upon release, the book received some unfavorable reviews due to its controversial content.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 6.5" x 9.75"
  • Medium: Books

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