As I Lay Dying.

FAULKNER, William.

Item Number: 138118

New York: Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, 1939.

First edition, first issue, one of 750 copies with dropped “I” on p. 11 and in the first state binding with lettering unbroken of this work, which consistently ranks as one of the greatest works of twentieth century literature. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket some professional restoration. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.

Faulkner had stated to have written As I Lay Dying in six weeks with no revisions, and its stream-of-consciousness style suggests such an immersive spontaneity. “I set out deliberately to write a tour-de-force. Before I ever put pen to paper and set down the first word I knew what the last word would be and almost where the last period would fall” (William Faulkner on As I Lay Dying). “No man ever put more of his heart and soul into the written word than did William Faulkner. If you want to know all you can about that heart and soul, the fiction where he put it is still right there" (Eudora Welty). Listed by Modern Library as one of the 100 greatest novels of the twentieth century. It is the basis for the 2013 film bearing the same name directed and co-written by and starring James Franco.