U.S.A. Trilogy: The 42nd Parallel, 1919, The Big Money

New York: Harper and Brothers/Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1930-1936. First Editions. 3 vol. Publisher’s paper and cloth boards, rubbing to edges, toning and tender front hinge to first volume, else generally bright examples. Dust jackets of first two volumes price clipped, rubbing to hinges and chips to spine ends of each with tear to bottom third of spine in first volume. Very Good. The 42nd Parallel signed to front endpaper, ‘For Grant Thornburn/sincerely yours/John Dos Passos June 1931’. This trilogy is the pinnacle of Dos Passos’ particularly cinematic brand of Modernism which jumps between his self-styled ‘Camera Eye’ and ‘Newsreel’ narrative modes, capturing a panoply of American life and progressive political conflict in the early 20th century. Uncommon in dust jackets and with a contemporary inscription.