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From the standpoint of the collector, the working-class novels and plays of the
1890s-1940s have much to recommend them. They're still obtainable, for one thing:
since many of the proletarians never became household names like Hemingway or
Fitzgerald (John Steinbeck may be the major exception), these works, even in fine
condition, haven't yet attained the five- and six-figure heights of the 20th century
high points. Second, precisely because of their unpopularity, many of these titles
have become delectably scarce. While one could, if asked, put his hands on a half-dozen
or so fine, jacketed copies of Catcher In the Rye (had he ten to fifteen thousand dollars
apiece to plop down for them, of course) within a week, one might never see a single
similarly fine copy of Robert Burns's 1932 classic I Am A Fugitive From a Georgia Chain
Gang...or Nelson Algren's Somebody in Boots...or Tom Kromer's Waiting for Nothing...
and there are dozens more similar examples from the pantheon of proletarian fiction.
These were simply not widely popular, nor widely collected, books. And while as a
genre proletarian fiction may still be somewhat underappreciated, we feel certain
that its stock will rise as its relevance to the development of mid-20th century
culture grows more apparent.
Finally, these books have something that every collector can appreciate: eye appeal.
The working-class fiction of the 1910s through the 1940s featured some of the boldest,
most engaging dustjacket art of the period, influenced by Social Realism, jazz-age
graphics, and the abstract designs of Art Deco and Russian Constructivism. As with
any vintage fiction, fine examples of these jackets are even harder to find than fine
copies of the books–but that's what makes the hunting fun!
Visit our References Page if you'd like to see a core
list of histories and bibliographies of American social fiction, poetry, and
drama–books which, we feel, should be in any collector's or scholar's library.
Click here to contact us with specific wants or queries.
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(LIT) SCHNEIDER, Isidor. From the Kingdom of Necessity. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1935. Cloth. First Edition. n.
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Baldwin, Eugene F.; Eisenberg, Maurice. Doctor Cavallo. Peoria, Illinois: Privately Printed, 1895, n.
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Ellison, Jerome. The Dam. New York: Random House, 1941. Cloth. First Edition. n.
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(LIT) (PRISON FICTION) England, George Allan. The Alibi. New York: Small, Maynard & Co., 1916. Cloth. First Edition. n.
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Moon, Bucklin. The Darker Brother. New York: Doubleday, Doran, 1943. Cloth. First Edition. n.
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(LIT) LONDON, Jack. The Abysmal Brute (First Appearance, in "The Popular Magazine" for September, 1911). New York: Street & Smith, 1911. Original Wraps. Serial Publication. n.
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