James Branch Cabell : An Illustrated Bibliography
SOMETHING ABOUT EVE: A Comedy of Fig-Leaves
Hall Code |
Description |
Eve-B2 (E) |
Second English Printing 1927 |
COMPILATION
Full Title:
Title recto: SOMETHING ABOUT EVE | [in italic] A Comedy of Fig-leaves | BY | JAMES BRANCH CABELL | "I WAS AFRAID, BECAUSE I WAS | NAKED: AND I HID MYSELF" | LONDON | JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD LIMITED (see image above).
Title verso: [in italic] First Published in 1927 | Reprinted − − 1927 | Made and Printed in Great Britain by | Tonbridge Printers Peach Hall Works Tonbridge (see image above).
Publication:
London, John Lane, 1927.
Collation:
Crown octavo [18.9 cm. (7 7/16 in.) x 13.3 cm. (5 ¼ in.)], xii + 372 pp. P. (i) half-title; (ii) Books by the Same Author; (iii) title page; (iv) publication data; (v) dedication (verso blank); vii-ix Contents (verso blank); (xi) The Argument of this Comedy: sonnet of 14 lines (verso blank);(1) fly-title; (2) two line epithet; 3-364 text; (365-372) advertisements. Pp. (1), (31), (49); (75); (111); (153); (181); (213); (245); (279); (327); (343); are fly-titles, each with a one or two line epithet on the verso.
Binding:
Pale blue cloth; black lettering; all edges trimmed. Spine: SOMETHING | ABOUT EVE | JAMES | BRANCH | CABELL | THE | BODLEY HEAD. Front cover: SOMETHING | ABOUT EVE | JAMES | BRANCH CABELL (see image above).
Dedication:
[in italic] To | ELLEN GLASGOW | − very naturally − this book which | commemorates the intelligence | of women (see image above).
Dust jacket:
White paper with black and red text; color illustration by John Austen on front panel (see image above).
Spine: [in black] SOMETHING | ABOUT | EVE | JAMES | BRANCH | CABELL | THE | BODLEY | HEAD
Front panel: [quadruple rule, top to bottom: black, green, orange, yellow] | [within illustration] [fig leaf device in green] [in black] SOMETHING | ABOUT EVE [fig leaf device in green] | A Comedy | of Fig-leaves | [below illustration; in red] by | JAMES BRANCH CABELL | [quadruple rule, top to bottom: black, green, orange, yellow]
Rear panel: [all in black; all enclosed in a single ruled box] [in italic] BOOKS BY JAMES BRANCH CABELL | [rule] | JURGEN | four line blurb | FIGURES OF EARTH | eight line blurb | THE HIGH PLACE | three line blurb | THE CORDS OF VANITY | three line blurb | THE RIVET IN GRANDFATHER'S NECK | four line blurb | THE CREAM OF THE JEST | eight line blurb | BEYOND LIFE. A Book of Essays | single line blurb | [rule] | JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD LTD., VIGO ST., W. 1
Front flap: [all in black; all enclosed in a single ruled box] SOMETHING | ABOUT EVE | [in italic] A Comedy of Fig- | Leaves | 29 line synopsis in two paragraphs [rule] | JOHN LANE | The Bodley Head Ltd.
Rear flap: [all in black; all enclosed in a single ruled box] [in italic] By the same Author | [rule] | DOMNEI | [in italic] A Comedy of Woman | Worship | By | JAMES BRANCH | CABELL | With an Introduction | by | JOSEPH | HERGESHEIMER | 7s. 6d. net. | 19 line synopsis | [rule] | JOHN LANE | The Bodley Head Ltd.
Notes:
In his review of James Hall's early draft of his bibliography, Paul Spencer noted a curious fact that, as far as we at The Silver Stallion are aware, has not been publicly reported elsewhere. The second English printing of Something About Eve was bowdlerized on pp. 122-123, with almost the entire paragraph describing the transformation of the Holy Nose of Lytreia deleted. The double page at left above is from the first English printing, Eve-B1 (E), while the one at right is from the second printing. The difference is obvious. It would be fascinating to know the circumstances that drove this minor bit of censorship. It would also be most interesting to know why Hall decided not to include this information in the final version of his bibliography. While this difference in the two printings is not needed to differentiate them, it does seem to be the kind of data that should have been mentioned, especially considering the furor over the censorship of Jurgen just a few years. earlier. We can't help but suspect that Mr. Cabell himself probably never knew about this incident of trans-Atlantic Comstockery.
