Four First Edition Gertrude Stein Titles Inscribed by Carl Van Vechten

All hardcovers and 8vo; all signed "Carlo" and appear to be inscribed to Saul Mauriber, Van Vechten's assistant and the executor of his estate, to include:

Carl Van Vechten, ed. Selected Writings of Gertrude Stein. NY: Random House, 1946. Stated First Printing. Tan cloth-covered boards with gilt-lettered blue spine label; lacking jacket. 8vo; xv, [i], 622pp. Inscribed, signed, and dated "October 7. 1946" on the first free endpaper. (Spine lightly rubbed with slight wear to ends, some separation from text block at head, and residue in front joint; interior with light toning, occasional offsetting, mark from paperclip on rear paste-down, and first free endpaper and half-title with small tear.)

Gertrude Stein; Carl Van Vechten, ed. Last Operas and Plays. New York and Toronto: Rinehart & Co., Inc., 1949. First printing. Orange cloth-covered boards with black and gilt on the spine, in plain-printed orange jacket with a photo of Stein by Van Vechten on the back. 8vo; xix, [i], 480pp. Inscribed, signed, and dated "February 14. 1949" on the first free endpaper. (Wear to corners and spine ends, light edge wear, and slight separation from text block at head; staining to first free endpaper, mild toning, and light grime and denting to frontispiece leaf, otherwise very clean internally; one leaf with minor fold and closed tear, final free endpaper with slight separation starting at head; unclipped jacket with toning, minor stains, some grime and marks mostly on the rear, and edge wear with chips, tears, and small losses; a very good copy in a good dj.)

Gertrude Stein. Two: Gertrude Stein and Her Brother and Other Early Portraits [1908-1912]. (Volume one of the Yale edition of the unpublished writings of Gertrude Stein.) New Haven: Yale University Press, 1951. First edition. Black cloth-covered boards with blue circle pattern, spine lettered in red, in plain-printed gray dust jacket. 8vo; xvii, [i], 355, [1]pp. Inscribed, signed, and dated "August 11.1951" on the first free endpaper. (Boards with light edge wear, spine with mild creasing and rubbed ends, with slight separation from text block; marks to fore-edge; interior with slight toning otherwise clean and bright; jacket with edge wear, and light scuffing, creasing, and toning, with larger crease to front and minor residue to rear; very good or better/very good.)

Donald Gallup, ed. The Flowers of Friendship: Letters Written to Gertrude Stein. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1953. First edition stated. Blue cloth-covered boards with gilt, in photographic jacket. 8vo; xxxvi, [2], 403, [1], xiii, [i]. Inscribed, signed, and dated on the first free endpaper. With two copies of a publisher's promotional booklet, with one inscribed and signed. One promotional booklet and the book are both dated prior to the book's publication in August 1953 (June and July, respectively), the other is inscribed and dated March 10. 1964." (Boards with areas of toning at spine and edges, light rubbing to spine ends with slight separation from text block at head; mild foxing to top edge; interior with light toning and minor grime and edge wear to one leaf; book reviews posted to free endpapers with associated offsetting; unclipped jacket with scuffing, edge wear, mild foxing along top edge, and lightly faded spine. One promotional booklet with light handling wear and offsetting on back of wraps, the second with handling wear and wraps toned with chip to one corner. Very good in good to very good jacket.)

Largest 9 1/2 x 6 1/2 in.

Private North Carolina Estate

Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964) was an Iowa-born writer, critic, and photographer. He formed close friendships with many influential writers, artists, and patrons, including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Mabel Dodge Luhan, and Gertrude Stein, with the latter naming Van Vechten the literary executer of her estate. As a writer, he was closely associated with the publisher Alfred A. Knopf who published many of his books and Van Vechten assisted Knopf in his efforts to find other writers to publish during the firm's early years. Van Vechten also played a key role during the Harlem Renaissance, supporting many of its most important figures. He became well-known later in his life for his portraits of notable creative and intellectual individuals, such as Georgia O'Keeffe, Eugene O'Neill, and W. E. B. Du Bois.