The Great Tradition: An Interpretation of American Literature Since the Civil War.
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1933. Hardcover. 8vo. Brown cloth with gilt lettering. x, 317pp. Very good. Ownership signature on front pastedown. Item #4144
Tight, clean first edition of this classic Depression-era, Marxist-influenced study -- with choice autograph addition: Tipped to inner flyleaf is a Typed Note Signed from Hicks, 1p, 5" X 8", Grafton, NY, 4 June 1940. Addressed to Arnold F. Gates (1914-93), notable Lincoln/Civil War scholar. Near fine. On brown-bordered imprinted letterhead. In response to Gates having expressed admiration for Hicks just-released novel "The First to Awaken" and also sending him a copy of his 1939 15-page pamphlet "Amberglow of Abraham Lincoln and Ann Rutledge," Hicks replies: "Your letter, coming so promptly after the appearance of the book, gives me great satisfaction. Thank you for writing it and for sending me 'Amberglow,' a charming and effective piece of writing." Boldly signed in black ink. Rather uncommon. This American literary critic, author and novelist (1901-82) gained fame as spokesman for the American proletarian literary movement of the 1930s, which made him one of the best-known Communists of his generation; he co-authored "John Reed: The Making of a Revolutionary" (1936) as well as quite a few nonfiction literary studies and some novels; in 1934 he became editor of the influential "The New Masses."
Price: $95.00