Madman's Drum
New York: Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith Incorporated, 1930. Ward, Lynd. First Edition. Hardcover. Second printing, octavo size, 258 pp., in publisher's dust jacket. Near fine / good +. Item #25052302
American artist Lynd Ward's (1905-1985) wood engravings are rich in detail and emotion; his prior (and first) book, "God's Man" was the first American wordless novel, and Ward's work is often seen as a precursor to the modern graphic novel in its ability to convey character and feeling through the use of image alone.
"Madman's Drum" was his second wordless novel, with 118 full-page drawings and a decoration (repeated) used to divide the chapters. This the first trade edition, which was published simultaneously with the signed limited edition.
___DESCRIPTION: Bound in decorated paper over boards, black cloth spine with paper spine label, black topstain, black endpapers, decorated title page, the illustrations printed on the rectos only reproduced by electrotypes and printed in black; octavo size (8 1/4" by 6"), [258] pp. The publisher's decorated dust jacket with $3.00 price on the lower margin of the left flap.
___CONDITION: A near fine copy, the boards clean, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior clean with light offsetting from the illustrations on the facing pages; slight wear to the head and tail of the spine, prior owner's gift inscription on the front free endpaper (dated "Xmas 1941"). The jacket a bit better than good, all component parts present and attached, not price-clipped, with overall light soil, sunning to the spine, and overall edgewear; a prior owner loosely glued a chip at the tail of the spine onto the surrounding area.
___CITATION: Dance, no. 005.
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Price: $200.00