AMENDMENTS AND APOLOGIES—HER BOOK FOR HER BIRTHDAY

Cabell, James Branch (1879–1958)

There Were Two Pirates: A Comedy of Division [Matched Association Pair — First & Second Printings — Inscribed to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings]

New York: Farrar, Straus & Co., Inc., 1946. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover with Dust Jacket.

A BIRTHDAY BOOK — THEN A CORRECTION.
The inscriptions transform two otherwise modestly valued Cabell first-edition copies into a small documentary sequence. Cabell first gives Rawlings—the book's dedicatee—the newly published first printing as a gift for her fiftieth birthday, then supplies the second printing with an inscription whose 'amendments and apologies' directly acknowledges the revised state of the text.

The pair has an unusually strong chain of internal meaning: author, dedicatee, birthday presentation, first printing, corrected second printing, and Cabell's own explanation for sending the second copy.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: Two octavo volumes, approximately 8 by 5.5 inches, 121 pages each. Publisher's hardcover bindings. Illustrated by John O'Hara Cosgrave II. Both volumes retain their original pictorial dust jackets, each unclipped with the $3.00 publisher's price.

The set comprises the first edition, first printing and first edition, second printing of There Were Two Pirates. Contemporary bibliographical material confirms the 1946 publication and identifies the book among Cabell's later Florida writings.

CONDITION: Very Good in Very Good dust jackets. Publisher's bindings show light rubbing at the spine ends and minor edge wear. Bindings remain square and the text blocks clean. Both original dust jackets show light edge wear, minor creasing, and faint rubbing along the spine folds and panels. Both remain complete and retain their original $3.00 prices.

TWO BOOKS, ONE LITERARY FRIENDSHIP
An exceptional matched pair of association copies, both inscribed by James Branch Cabell to his close friend and fellow Southern author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. The first printing was presented to Rawlings for her fiftieth birthday on August 8, 1946; the second printing followed with Cabell's playful inscription offering 'amendments and apologies.'

The association is particularly appropriate to the book itself. There Were Two Pirates, Cabell's Florida romance built around the legendary pirate José Gasparilla, was dedicated to Rawlings. A contemporary copy currently offered on the market confirms the printed dedication to her, while institutional sources place the novel among Cabell's Florida writings.

FROM CABELL TO RAWLINGS.
Both volumes are inscribed by James Branch Cabell on their title pages to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.
+++ First printing: 'For Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings — her book for her birthday, 8 August 1946 James Branch Cabell'
+++ Second printing: 'For Marjorie with amendments and apologies James Branch Cabell'

A significant association: the recipient was a major American author, the book's dedicatee, and Cabell's friend and literary colleague. The relationship materially contributes to the significance of the copies.

From the collection of George D. Lacy and Louis A. Irmo; VCU records preserve Cabell material within the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Papers and note Cabell's later gift of a manuscript of There Were Two Pirates to the University of Florida, where Rawlings's papers had become an important collection.

LITERARY SIGNIFICANCE: A FRIENDSHIP PRESERVED IN TWO VOLUMES.
 James Branch Cabell and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings occupied different generations and literary territories within Southern writing, but their friendship created a meaningful connection between Cabell's Virginia-centered literary career and Rawlings's Florida writing. Contemporary documentation describes them as longtime colleagues and friends and records Cabell's encouragement of Rawlings's ultimately unfinished biography of Ellen Glasgow.

CABELL'S FLORIDA PIRATE.
Published in 1946, There Were Two Pirates uses the legendary José Gasparilla as the foundation for one of Cabell's late Florida works. The narrative draws upon Florida pirate legend while reshaping it through Cabell's characteristic mixture of romance, irony, fantasy, and historical invention. 

The book also occupies an interesting place in American publishing history. There Were Two Pirates was among the very first books issued by the newly established Farrar, Straus firm; Macmillan's history of the company identifies it as the fledgling publisher's first book.

THE ASSOCIATION IS THE BOOK.
The two inscriptions form a remarkably compact record of Cabell's friendship with Rawlings. The first is affectionate and ceremonial, marking her fiftieth birthday with a copy of a book dedicated to her. The second is informal and teasing: 'For Marjorie with amendments and apologies.' Read together, they move from public literary tribute to the easy familiarity of private friendship.

The pairing also captures the book at two moments in its publication. Rawlings received the first printing as soon as it appeared, then the corrected second printing directly from Cabell. What survives is therefore not simply two inscribed copies, but a small bibliographical sequence personally documented by the author.

GENRES: Association Copies, Inscribed Books, First Editions, American Literature, Southern Literature, Florida Literature, Literary Fiction.

SUBJECTS: James Branch Cabell, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, José Gasparilla,  Florida Piracy, Literary Friendship.

Item #22403

Price: $650.00