James Branch Cabell : An Illustrated Bibliography
BEYOND LIFE: Dizain des Demiurges
Hall Code |
Description |
BL-A1a |
First Printing, Variant Binding 1919 |
COMPILATION
Full Title:
Title page recto: BEYOND | LIFE | [rule] | [in italic] Dizain des Demiurges | [rule] BY | JAMES BRANCH CABELL | [in italic] "Many a man lives a burden to the earth: | but a good book is the precious life-blood of a | master-spirit, embalmed and treasured up on pur- | pose to a life beyond life." | NEW YORK | ROBERT M. McBRIDE & COMPANY | 1919 (see image above).
Title page verso: Copyright 1919 | By | ROBERT M. McBRIDE & COMPANY | [rule] | [in italic] Printed in the United States of America | [rule] | Published January, 1919. (see image above).
Publication:
New York: Robert M. McBride & Co., January 18, 1919.
Collation:
Crown octavo [19.2 cm. (7 9/16 in.) x 12.7 cm. (5 in.)]; pp. (viii) + 368; (i) half title; (ii) Books by Mr. Cabell; (iii) title page; (iv) publication data; (v) dedication (verso blank); (vii) Contents (verso blank); (1) -358 text. Pp. 359-366 Some Other Books by Mr. Cabell (With Tributes of the Press). Pp. (320) and (368) are blank. Pp. (1), 21, 53, 83, 125, 161, 201, 241, 275, and 321 are fly-titles.
Binding:
Dark, greyish brown cloth ("Italian chocolate"); gilt lettering on front cover and spine; all edges trimmed. Spine: Beyond | Life | [rule] | Cabell | McBride. Front cover: [blind rule all around] Beyond Life | James Branch Cabell (see image above).
The binding comparison above shows the Italian chocolate binding at left, compared with the normal binding of the first printing at right (see image above).
Dedication:
[double rule] | To | GUY HOLT | [6 line acrostic verse] | [double rule] (see image above).
Endpapers:
Plain white endpapers. The front endpapers of this copy are of particular interest - this is James Branch Cabell's personal copy of Beyond Life in the Italian chocolate binding, with his bookplate. It is shown here through the good offices of Ray Bonis and the James Branch Cabell Library at Virginia Commonwealth University, where it resides along with the rest of Mr. Cabell's personal collection (see image above).
Dust jacket:
Not seen, but it would have been identical to that used for BL-A1.
Notes:
1. The quotation on the title page is by John Milton, excerpted from Areopagitica: A Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing to the Parliament of England (1644).
2. On the title page, the "é" in "Démiurges" is missing its accent. This was corrected in the second printing, BL-A2.
3. See the discussion of the Italian chocolate binding at the bottom of the index page for Beyond Life.
