Lot Details
Lot 169
GUNTHER, JOHN Death Be Not Proud.
New York: Harper and Brothers, 1949. First edition, inscribed to the author's wife: "This book belongs to/Jane Perry Gunther/given her this day- John/New York/February 1949." Full green morocco gilt signed by "Kingsport Press," marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, cloth slipcase. 8 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches (21 x 14 cm); 261 pp. The spine faded, light wear along joints; Together with the first English edition. London: Hamish Hamilton, [1949]. Full morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. The upper cover worn along joint and nearly detached.
A highly important inscribed copy of Death Be Not Proud, John Gunther's moving memoir of the life of his young son Johnny and his early death at seventeen from a brain tumor. The title comes from John Donne's Holy Sonnet X, also known from its first line as Death Be Not Proud. In 1944, John Gunther was divorced from Frances Gunther, young John's mother, and was married to Jane Perry Gunther at the time of John's death in 1948 and throughout the writing of this novella released the next year. A widely read and oft-reprinted work, considered by many Gunther's best and the most memorable work of a prolific writer, we trace few inscribed and collectible copies of this title. While not dedicated, the inscription here may be considered the dedication copy. John Gunther died of cancer in 1970; Jane Perry Gunther died in New York City on May 22, 2020 at the age of 103.
C The Collection of Jane and John Gunther
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