$1,300
Estimate: $1,000 - $1,500
Auction: February 18, 2021 10:00:00 AM EDT
New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1927. First edition. 8vo. 235 pp. Presentation copy, warmly inscribed by Wilder on half-title to close friends, Henry and Lila Luce: "For Lila and Harry/with all my best/Thornt." Ownership signature of Luce at top of first free leaf. Illustrated by Amy Drevenstedt. Original tan cloth, stamped in black and in green, front and rear joints lightly rubbed, small split at bottom of front joint; all edges trimmed; illustrated endpapers; rare dust-jacket wanting; in red cloth chemise.
Thornton Wilder and Henry Luce were lifelong friends, having first met while classmates at Yale. Wilder introduced Lila to Henry on New Years Eve 1919, they married in 1923.
Henry Luce (1898-1967) was an American magazine magnate, and creator of numerous influential magazines, such as Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated.