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Details
CATHER, Willa (1873-1947). The Troll Garden. New York: McClure, Phillips & Co., 1905.
8o. (Front free endpaper loose.) Original red blind-stamped cloth, gilt-lettered on front cover and spine (few scuffs). Provenance: Annie Fields (presentation inscription).
FIRST EDITION OF CATHER'S FIRST NOVEL, preceded only by her collection of poems April Twilights (1903). A SUPERB ASSOCIATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY CATHER TO HER LITERARY MENTOR, ANNIE FIELDS on the front free endpaper: "To Miss Fields from Willa Sibert Cather New York, May 16, 1910."
Annie Fields was the widow of James Fields, owner of the venerable publishing firm Ticknor & Fields and editor of the Atlantic Monthly. After his death, Annie Fields and her intimate companion Sarah Orme Jewett ran the preeminent literary salon of the era at her home in Boston. Cather was introduced to Fields on a trip to Boston. At the time she was a journalist, there to write about Mary Baker Eddy. The 74 year old Fields acted as a maternal figure for the young writer, providing her with a safe haven to explore her identity as a woman and writer. "Sometimes entering a new door can make a great change in one's life," Cather wrote in 148 Charles Street, her tribute to Mrs. Fields. Fields introduced the middle-class Cather from middle-America to the broader world of literature and society and Fields and Jewett read and critiqued her unpublished writing. Crane A4a.
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FIRST EDITION OF CATHER'S FIRST NOVEL, preceded only by her collection of poems April Twilights (1903). A SUPERB ASSOCIATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY CATHER TO HER LITERARY MENTOR, ANNIE FIELDS on the front free endpaper: "To Miss Fields from Willa Sibert Cather New York, May 16, 1910."
Annie Fields was the widow of James Fields, owner of the venerable publishing firm Ticknor & Fields and editor of the Atlantic Monthly. After his death, Annie Fields and her intimate companion Sarah Orme Jewett ran the preeminent literary salon of the era at her home in Boston. Cather was introduced to Fields on a trip to Boston. At the time she was a journalist, there to write about Mary Baker Eddy. The 74 year old Fields acted as a maternal figure for the young writer, providing her with a safe haven to explore her identity as a woman and writer. "Sometimes entering a new door can make a great change in one's life," Cather wrote in 148 Charles Street, her tribute to Mrs. Fields. Fields introduced the middle-class Cather from middle-America to the broader world of literature and society and Fields and Jewett read and critiqued her unpublished writing. Crane A4a.