James Branch Cabell

Hall Code	Description	Cabell Contribution(s)
*B17	First Edition (numerous printings known)	Porcelain Cups

IMAGES

COMPILATION

Full Title:

Publication:

New York. The Modern Library. The last copyright date on the verso of the title page is 1953, but based on the catalog at the rear, this particular copy dates to Fall 1956 (includes An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser, but not Stoic and Epicurean Philosophers).

Collation:

Crown octavo [20.8 cm. (8 3/16-inches) x 14.5 cm. (5 ¼-inches)]. [i] fly-title (verso blank); [iii] title verso; [iv] publication data; v-viii Contents; ix-xi Acknowledgements (verso blank); xiii-xvii Introduction (verso blank); [1] half-title (verso blank); pp. 3-1306 text; [1307] Half title: Biographical Notes (verso blank); [1309]-1340 Biographical Notes; [1341-1342] catalog.

Binding:

Toledano style G5 in grey cloth: decorations and lettering in gilt on a red field; all edges trimmed; tops stained red. Spine: [within a red field] [double rule in gilt] AN ANTHOLOGY | OF FAMOUS | AMERICAN | STORIES | BURRELL | AND | CERF | [in italic] Modern Library | [double rule in gilt]; [in oval red field edged in gilt] Kent torchbearer in gilt; Front panel: [in oval red field edged in gilt] Kent torchbearer in gilt (see image above).

Dust jacket:

Style Gd rear panel. Blue background on spine and front panel (see image above).

Dust jacket outside:

Front Panel: [all on a blue background]; [in a white field bordered in red], [script-style text in blue] An Anthology | of Famous | American Stories | [color drawing of New York skyline]; [script-style text in black] INCLUDING STORIES BY [script-style text in white] Melville, Poe, | O. Henry, Dreiser, Lardner, Hemingway, | Wolfe, Faulkner, Cather, Steinbeck, | [script-style text in black] EDITED BY [script-style text in white] Angus Burrell and Bennett Cerf | 73 Stories 1358 Pages Biographical Notes | [script-style text in black] A MODERN LIBRARY GIANT

Back panel: [all on a white background, all text in black]; [Kent torchbearer in white on a red circular field]; THE | Modern Library | HANDSOME, PERMANENT, DEFINITIVE EDITIONS OF | [in italic] The World's Greatest Books | [large initial "T", first three words in red caps] 6-line advertising paragraph; [left side] 21 lines of advertising in three paragraphs, each paragraph set off by a Kent torchbearer in red, enclosed in a red circle; [right side parallel to the three advert paragraphs] [enclosed in a double decorated ruled box] 14 lines of advertising | THE MODERN LIBRARY, INC., NEW YORK | [in italic] In Canada:RANDOM HOUSE OF CANADA, LTD., [in italic] Toronto

Front Flap: [all on a white background, all text in black]; A MODERN LIBRARY GIANT [Kent torchbearer in red] | [all enclosed in a red single rule box] 27 lines of advertising for this volume; THE MODERN LIBRARY | 457 MADISON AVENUE · NEW YORK 22, N. Y.

Rear Flap: [all on a white background, all text in black]; [left side] A complete list of the titles | in the Modern Library will | be found on the reverse side | of this jacket. | [right side paralle to the four lines of advertising] Kent torchbearer in red | [all enclosed in a red single rule box] 17 lines of advertising for five other titles in the Modern Library Giants series | [arrow device pointing left] [in red, italic] See the inside of this jacket for | a complete list of Modern Library Giants

Dust jacket inside:

WHICH OF THESE 370 OUTSTANDING BOOKS DO YOU WANT TO READ? | [triple rule] | 7 column listing of titles in The Modern Library separated by single rules; rightmost 2 columns are bisected by a single rule, with listing of Modern Library Giant titles| [triple rule] This is a Complete List of Modern Library Books. Books That Appeal to Every Variety of Taste and Opinion. (see image above).

Notes:

Although this was not the first time "Porcelain Cups" was collected in a short story anthology (it was selected for the O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories 1919, Hall B2, 1920), we have included it in this section because it was the only Cabell short story to appear in an anthology issued by the Modern Library. This was the also last Modern Library title to include a contribution by James Branch Cabell. An unknown number of printings were issued between 1953 and the 1970s, and during this period at least two later bindings were used in addition to the first binding as shown here. The Silver Stallion has not seen these bindings.

For an explanation of the terms used on this page that are specific to The Modern Library, see the Cabell in The Modern Library page.

Custom Binding:

This title is also known in a limp brown leather binding, decorated in gilt, issued by The American Mineral Spirit Company (AMSCO), as a gift. This binding is in brown morocco, elaborately gilt decorated, with marbled endpapers, corners of the pages rounded, all edges gilt. There is no indication of who produced the binding. However, we regard it as very unlikely that this binding was done for AMSCO by the publishers, which the Modern Library is known to have done for some companies. AMSCO issued a number of books in this same binding over the period from the 1940s to the mid-60s, and this is the only Modern Library title we have seen among them. Given the complexity of the decoration, which required custom gilding tools, it seems most likely that AMSCO would have used the same binder for all of these titles.

Based on the catalog at the end, this copy dates to Spring 1956 (includes The Wisdom of Israel but not An American Tragedy, by Theodore Dreiser).

It is not clear whether AMSCO purchased unbound copies from the Modern Library for custom binding, or if they bought complete copies and had them rebound. For this reason, The Silver Stallion has chosen to list this issue, for now at least, as a curiosity only, rather than as a legitimate original binding for this title. If any reader has information that can clarify this question, we would be delighted to hear from you.