VAN VECHTEN, Carl

The Tattooed Countess: A Romantic Novel with a Happy Ending [Inscribed]

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1924. First and second printings before publication. Octavo (19.5cm); rebound in hunter green cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; [x],286pp. Inscribed by the author in green ink on the front endpaper: "Inscribed for Amos T. French Jr by Carl Van Vechten / December 28, 1937 / New York." Modest wear to extremities, faint dampstaining to covers, with some rubbing and dust-soil to upper edge of textblock, and faint, shallow staining along upper and lower margins; Very Good.

A novel set in a small Iowa town, centered around a Countess who returns home after 20 years on the Continent. "Into this complacent town bursts the Countess, a full-blown, impulsive widow who dares to dye her hair, smokes cigarettes in public, wears her gowns cut low and her jewels in layers, and admits that after her lips are made up she can say things she could never have said before" (from the University of Iowa Press edition). The recipient, Amos Tuck French, Jr. (1901-1975), was the son of American banker and eventually vice president of the Manhattan Trust Company Amos Tuck French (1863-1941). Not in HANNA.

Price: $150.00

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