L. W. Currey, Inc.

Sternheim, Carl. FAIRFAX. Berlin: Ernst Rowohlt Verlag, 1921. Octavo, pp. [1-2] 3-85 [86: printer's colophon] [87-88: ads], original orange cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, top edge stained black. First edition, first printing. A small label of "Paul Zsolnay Verlag, Wien" is pasted over the Ernst Rowohlt Verlag imprint on the title page. In Sternheim's short fantasy satire, an indictment of bigotry and chauvinism, a bored American arms manufacturer and his daughter travel to Europe where he observes the social and political quirks and foibles of the people in the post-World War I Europe. In the only fantastic episode in the story, he participates in a communist uprising in Berlin. Carl Sternheim (1878-1942), son of a Jewish banker, was primarily a playwright. He moved to Belgium in 1930 and lived there until his death unmolested by the Nazis, although his works were on the NS index. There was an illustrated edition in German in 1922 which was reprinted in facsimile in 1968. A translation from the German by Alfred B. Kuttner was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1923 in an edition of 950 copies. Lexikon 2, pp. 247-8. Bloch (2002) 3008. Not in Nagl. A very good copy. This 1921 first edition is scarce. (#137026).

Price: $165.00