Dawn Ginsbergh's Revenge (Was: Quote: I shall lose no time in reading it: antedating (1871) (Gladstone 1897) (Disraeli 1898)

Sun May 16 23:15:41 UTC 2010

Thanks to George Thompson for the information about the book for sale
in New York. And thanks to Larry Horn, Vic Steinbok, and Fred Shapiro.

In one of Perelman's books he gives a description of the first edition
of "Dawn Ginsbergh's Revenge". Perelman says that "dust jacket bore a
blurb from ... Groucho Marx." The blurb is the one we are discussing.
This conclusion is based on the excerpt below which may be of interest
because it appears to come directly from Perelman, and it provides
additional physical details concerning the first edition.

Cite: 2000, The Last Laugh: The Final Word from the First Name in
Satire by S. J. Perelman, Page number unknown, Lyons Press. (Google
Books snippet view only)(not verified on paper)

About the end of 1928, my work was appearing in some profusion, and
Horace Liveright, whose daring as a publisher verged on audacity,
brought out a collection of it called Dawn Ginsbergh's Revenge. It was
a curious little volume, bound in the horripilating green plush called
"flock" used to upholster railroad chairs, and as far as one could
tell, it had only two distinctive aspects.

The title page omitted any mention whatever of an author — I
presumably was so overawed at the permanence I was achieving that I
neglected to check this detail — and the dust jacket bore a blurb
from, coincidentally, Groucho Marx. It read: "From the moment I picked
up your book until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Some
day I intend reading it. To say, therefore, that I had set the Thames
on fire by that fateful evening in 1931 would be hardly accurate.

(Off topic) Beinecke is a very beautiful building on the inside. The
outside looks like a blockhouse designed to survive near ground zero.
Sorry to hear that the volume in the Beinecke is missing.

Garson

On Sun, May 16, 2010 at 6:14 PM, George Thompson
<george.thompson at nyu.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       George Thompson <george.thompson at NYU.EDU>
> Subject:      Dawn Ginsbergh's Revenge (Was: Quote: I shall lose no time in
>              reading it: antedating (1871) (Gladstone 1897) (Disraeli 1898)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> From ABE:
>
>        DAWN GINSBERGH'S REVENGE   PERELMAN, S. J.
>        Bookseller: Crawford Doyle Booksellers  (New York, NY, U.S.A.)
>        Book Description: Horace Liveright, New York, 1929. Hardcover. Second issue. A very good copy in silver cloth-backed embossed covers containing two overlapping hearts, butterflies and other designs, with red spine lettering. There is darkening at the spine and the extremities show light rubbing and tanning of the text block. No dustwrapper in this second issue binding (released the same month as the first), with numerous photos and illustrations. Perelman's first book, of which Groucho Marx said to the author, "From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down I was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend reading it." An off-broadway stage version appeared in the 1950s. Quite scarce. Bookseller Inventory # 2151
>
> This will cost you $250.
>
> Most of the 16 entries for this title are for a 2nd or 3rd printing, and have no dust-jacket.  The only one that does is also signed, and priced at $5,000
>        Dawn Ginsbergh's Revenge   PERELMAN, S.J.
>        Bookseller: Peter L. Stern & Co., Inc., A.B.A.A.  (Boston, MA, U.S.A.)
>        Book Description: New York: Horace Liveright, 1929, 1929. First Edition of the author's first book. In the presumed first binding; worn and chipped at the spine ends; a good copy in a worn and defective dust jacket.  ***
>
> Perhaps one of our Boston residents could drop by Mr. Stern's shop and look at the dust jacket.
>
> GAT
>
> George A. Thompson
> Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Date: Sunday, May 16, 2010 12:43 pm
> Subject: Re: Quote: I shall lose no time in reading it: antedating (1871) (Gladstone 1897) (Disraeli 1898)
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
>> At 11:22 AM -0400 5/16/10, George Thompson wrote:
>> >The Beinecke is Yale UL's Special Collection, isn't it? Have they
>> >put any of their stuff into storage?  But the catalog should say so.
>> >An odd book for someone to steal from a rare book room.
>>
>> It could mean misfiled.
>>
>> In any case, there is another copy listed in ORBIS (the Yale
>> e-catalogue) as being available in the regular collection at
>> Sterling, with the indicated status "Paging Slip Request".  The
>> Beinecke listing does suggest using Borrow Direct or Interlibrary
>> Loan.
>>
>> LH
>>
>>
>> >
>> >A library's circulating copy of a 1929 book will have long since
>> >lost its dustjacket, but there will be special collections focussing
>> >on 20th C American lit which have books by Perelman.
>> >If I can believe the NYPL's new catalog, the 42nd street library's
>> >Berg Collectino has only one book by Perelman -- I think I don't
>> >believe it.
>> >The Fales Library at NYU is a likely place, but the NYU catalog has
>> >called in sick this weekend.
>> >
>> >GAT
>> >
>> >George A. Thompson
>> >Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre",
>> >Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.
>> >
>> >----- Original Message -----
>> >From: "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
>> >Date: Sunday, May 16, 2010 6:56 am
>> >Subject: Re: Quote: I shall lose no time in reading it: antedating
>> >(1871) (Gladstone 1897) (Disraeli 1898)
>> >To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> >
>> >>  Thanks, Garson, for more great stuff.  Note that the Beinecke
>> >>  Library's copy of "Dawn Ginsbergh's Revenge" is said in the
>> catalog to
>> >>  be "Unavailable," which probably means "Missing."
>> >>
>> >>  Fred Shapiro
>> >>
>> >>  ------------------------------------------------------------
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>> >
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>> >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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