American Places (association copy with Stegner's memorial program)
NY: Dutton, 1981. First edition. Hardcover. A nice association copy, inscribed on the half-title page: "For Tom Moser, with old-time affection. Wallace Stegner." Thomas Moser (see his Stanford tribute) was a longtime professor and former chair of the English Department at Stanford, thus Stegner's close colleague. Laid in at rear are a collection of three obituaries/remembrances for Stegner from newspapers including the Washington Post as well as a program for "A Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of Wallace Stegner" held at Memorial Church at Stanford on May 3, 1993; on the back of the program Moser has written in pen: "Nancy apologized profusely for the omission of my name, which was on the original list of ushers" (Stewart Udall, John Daniel, Thomas Watkins, and Wendell Berry all spoke at the service). Moser "spearheaded Stanford’s Department of English during the upheavals of the mid-1960s" and wrote psychological biographies of Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford among other books. There is correspondence between him and Stegner in Stegner's archive. This book was a collaboration between Stegner and his son Page, also an accomplished writer and professor at UC Santa Cruz. "Here is a close look at America, with a decidedly personal touch, by seasoned observers of the continent's varied human mutual history. The range is wide, from Maine west to the Pacific Northwest and south to Florida, across then Mississippi, the Plains and then Rocky Mountains through the Canyonlands of California." A square quarto in beige cloth, gilt lettering to spine. Illustrated with 89 full-color plates, all images taken especially for the book by renown landscape photographer Eliot Porter. Apparently the three of them work on the book for 12 years. Index and a useful bibliography for further related reading at rear. Near fine with a hint of lift to front board and toning to page edges (not plate edges). In a very good jacket with sunning to spine, which seems to be without fail for this title, as well as rubbing and a few light scratches. A nice association with the scarce inclusion of Stegner's memorial program. Near fine / Very good. Item #2194
ISBN: 0525053905
More about the book:
"A collection of musings by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Wallace Stegner and his son, Page, American Places reconciles the many images that embody Americans, America, and the land that made it all possible. 'This book is an attempt, by sampling, to say something about how the American people and the American land have interacted, how they have shaped one another; what patterns of life, with what chances of continuity, have arisen out of the confrontations between an unformed society and a virgin continent. Perhaps it is less a book about the American land than some ruminations about the making of America. . . . We are the unfinished product of a long becoming.'"
"The text by the Stegners is precise, to the point, packed with useful information and infused with that love for our land and its honest workers which is the highest form (perhaps the only form) of patriotism."--Edward Abbey.
Price: $875.00 save 5% $831.25