MACLEAN, Norman.
A River Runs Through It and Other Stories.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1976.
$18,000.00
In Stock
Item Number: RRB-152630
"My first University publisher, with many thanks": First Edition of A River Runs Through It; Inscribed by Norman Maclean to His Publisher Two Month Prior To Publication
First edition of Norman Maclean’s beloved debut, a semi-autobiographical classic of fly fishing, family, and faith in the mountains of Montana, inscribed by him to his publisher two months prior to publication. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author to his publisher before publication on the front free endpaper, “March 12, 1976. To Don, My first University publisher, with many thanks. Norman.” A River Runs Through It was the first work of original fiction published by the University of Chicago Press, an institution whose list had previously consisted of scholarly monographs and academic reference works. The manuscript had been declined by a number of New York publishers prior to its acceptance at Chicago; one editor is reported to have rejected it on the grounds that the stories had "trees in it." Maclean had held a faculty position at the University of Chicago for over four decades prior to his retirement, a circumstance consistent with the familiarity of the inscription's language. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket photograph by Joel Snyder. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. One of the nicest association copies extant.
A River Runs Through It and Other Stories, published in 1976, was Norman Maclean’s first book, written after his retirement from a long career as a professor of English at the University of Chicago, and it became one of the most cherished works of modern American literature. Its title novella, drawn from Maclean’s own youth in Montana, entwines fly fishing, family, and faith in the story of two brothers and their Presbyterian minister father, and its haunting final line, “I am haunted by waters,” has entered the American literary imagination. Rejected by the New York houses, it was the first work of original fiction ever published by the University of Chicago Press and went on to become a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In 1992 it was adapted into an acclaimed film directed by Robert Redford and starring Brad Pitt, which won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and carried Maclean’s Montana rivers to a vast new audience.
A River Runs Through It and Other Stories.
$18,000.00
In Stock