The Chicken-Wagon Family
New York: Grossett & Dunlap, Publishers, 1925. Early Reprint Edition. Octavo, publisher's green cloth, spine and upper board stamped in black, later plain paper dust jacket with typed label to upper panel.
Early Grosset & Dunlap reprint edition of American writer Barry Benefields first book, the copy of screen diva Gloria Swanson, with her Art Deco bookplate featuring a line drawing of a swan. A Texas-born writer known for his small-town Southern stories, Benefield was successful during the 1920s, with novels serialized in major magazines and adapted into films, although his work did not endure in the literary canon. Following the nomadic Tatum family as they travel the rural South in a ramshackle wagon, The Chicken-Wagon Family was adapted into the 1939 American comedy of the same name directed by Herbert I. Leeds, starring Leo Carrillo in a role initially meant for Will Rogers, who died before production began. While there is no documented connection between Swanson and Benefield, they were contemporaries and operated in overlapping Hollywood spheres. Originally published by Century Co. in 1925. Bookplate to upper pastedown. Lacking scarce original dust jacket. Light rubbing to spine-ends and corners, minor staining to upper board. With a later plain paper dust jacket with a typed label mounted to upper panel noting title and provenance. Very good. Item #11217
$300.00