Extremely Scarce Signed First Edition of Jacob's Ladder

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings; Jessie Ayers, illus. JACOB'S LADDER. Coral Gables: Florida: University of Miami Press, 1950. First edition. Signed by the author on the half-title. Green cloth-covered boards blind-stamped to resemble alligator skin, spine lettered in white and black, top edge stained; in unclipped ($2.75) illustrated dust jacket. 8vo; 118pp.

8 1/4 x 5 1/4 in.

Jacob's Ladder was first published in Scribner's magazine in 1931. It is "the story of a young couple, Mart and Florry, and of their endless struggle for survival in the barren Florida of scrub pine and sour orange trees, of swamps and bayous. It is the story of a love, simple yet deeply felt, of birth and death, of tragedy lightened with laughter, of men and women with a great will to live" (from front jacket flap).

Boards with very minor scuffing, a few spots at the front joint, and extremities sunned; text block with foxing to page edges with a rare additional spot, minor browning to rear endpaper, one page with two light stains, and ownership signature on free endpaper and half-title; jacket with light scattered foxing, sunning or discoloration to spine and folds, a few light stains, grime, and some wear to edges and spine. Very good in a very good minus jacket.