Description

Franklin Library leather edition of William Faulkner's "The Reivers: A Reminiscence," a Limited edition, Illustrated by Herbert Tauss, one of the Pulitzer Prize series, published in 1983. Bound in brown leather, the book has marbled paper end leaves, satin book marker, acid-free paper, hubbed spine, gold gilt on three edges---in FINE condition. William Faulkner, who lived from 1897-1063, was reared in Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner attended Ole Miss and bought Rowan Oak, where he lived and wrote. He won the 1949 NOBEL PRIZE. "The Reviers" is set early in 20th century when, a 11-year-old boy named Lucius Priest (a distant cousin of the McCaslin/Edmonds family Faulkner wrote about in "Go Down, Moses" ) somewhat unwittingly gets embroiled in a plot to go to Memphis with dimwitted family friend and manservant, Boon Hogganbeck. Boon steals (reives, thereby becoming a reiver) Lucius' grandfather's car, one of the first cars in Yoknapatawpha County . They discover that Ned McCaslin, a black man who works with Boon at Lucius' grandfather's stables, has stowed away with them (Ned is also a blood cousin of the Priests). When they reach Memphis, Boon and Lucius stay in a boarding-house (brothel). Miss Reba, the madam, and Miss Corrie, Boon's favorite girl, are appalled to see that Boon has brought a child. In the evening, Otis reveals that Corrie (whose real name is Everbe Corinthia) used to prostitute herself in their old town, and he would charge men to watch her through a peephole. Outraged at his conduct, Lucius fights Otis, who cuts his hand with a pocketknife. Boon breaks up the fight but Everbe is so moved by Lucius' chivalry that she decides to stop whoring. Later, Ned returns to the boarding-house and reveals he traded the car for a supposedly lame racehorse. Corrie, Reba, Ned, Boon and Lucius hatch a scheme to smuggle the horse by rail to a nearby town, Parsham, to race a horse it has lost to twice already. Ned figures that everyone in town will bet against the horse and he can win enough money to buy back the car. In town, Ned takes Lucius to stay with a black family while they practice for the horse race. On the day of the race, Lucius rides the horse (named Coppermine but called Lightning by Ned) and loses the first of three heats as planned. Just as the second heat begins, Butch returns to break up the horserace and arrest Boon for stealing the horse. Lucius and one of Ned's kinsman are able to get the horse to safety; Corrie is supposedly able to clear the whole ordeal up by having sex with Butch and the race takes place as scheduled the next day. Ultimately, they get the car back. Back home, Boss Priest saves Lucius from receiving a beating from his father, knowing that the ordeal he went through at his age was punishment enough. Boon and Corrie eventually marry and name their son Lucius Priest Hogganbeck. 289 pages---a HILARIOUS but "raunchy" story! I offer combined shipping.