Original mustard cloth on boards. Hinges cracked. No writing. Cloth of back cover is split halfway down at the spine edge. Perhaps had he lived beyond 50 years of age, James Oppenheim would have become far better known. As it is, this novel scored an acidic review from the New York Times, which was replied to in turn by Oppenheim. Reading these on the net after reading the first chapter of the novel pointed up to me (again) the particular permanence of the printed page. In his reply, the author admits he was too easy on his characters. Had he only spoken this, rather than writing it, who would have known in 2012, a century later ? Was this "weakness" corrected in subsequent writing ? Or, was it a weakness at all rather than a deliberate construction of the personal features of a character ? At any rate, this little scene is one more testament to the value of the printed page. This First Edition copy is clean inside, with minor hand soil to the cover. 418 pp. Exceedingly scarce.