The Liberal Imagination: Essays on Literature and Society.
New York: The Viking Press, 1951. Hardcover. 8vo. Burgundy cloth with gilt lettering and rules. xvi, 303pp. Very good. Spine quite sunned, else binding tight and nice; internally fine. Item #52229
Handsome third printing of this landmark study first published the previous year -- and an important presentation copy: Front flyleaf is boldly inscribed and signed "To Adlai Stevenson, / who uses what this book is about, / in gratitude and admiration -- / Lionel Trilling / November 1952." Adlai E. Stevenson II (1900-65) was Illinois governor and two-time Democratic presidential candidate (1952, 1956) and darling of the liberals. Whether Trilling inscribed this copy before November 4th, when Stevenson went down in defeat, is alas not here recorded; chances are its was inscribed after his record defeat. In any case, it is considered a classic and influential statement of liberal ideas at the time as found in literature and culture. It proved a resounding success and was hailed by the New York intellectuals and other intelligentsia. Its sixteen essays were first published in highbrow academic journals throughout the 1940s, and in book form constitutes the first essay collection by this leading literary/cultural critic and essayist (1905-75). He was a leading liberal intellectual of the day, and as such supported fellow intellectual liberal Stevenson in both of his presidential bids.
Price: $450.00