The Swiss Family Perelman
$1,250 · Offered by Biblio
First edition
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1950. First Edition. S.J. Perelman’s own personal copy bound in full gilt-stamped red leather and presented to him by his publishers, Simon & Schuster. Handsomely bound with marble endpapers, raised bands, and top edge gilt. With a document providing provenance laid in. Illustrated by Al Hirschfeld. Fine copy. A collection of short travel pieces which appeared in ‘Holiday’ magazine, including ‘Rancors Aweigh,’ ‘Mamma Don’t Want No Rice,’ ‘Pickle-Puss in Seven-League Boots,’ ‘How Much Lotus Can You Eat?,’ etc. Sidney Joseph Perelman, popularly known as S. J. Perelman (1904 – 1979), was one of the most widely read literary icons of the Golden Age of American Humor. His New Yorker pieces, fiction, and collected essays are legendary for their biting wit and mastery of caricature and language. Off and on throughout his career he worked in film, notably as a contributing screenwriter on such Hollywood comedy classics as Monkey Business and Horse Feathers with the Marx Brothers, Mike Todd’s Around the World in 80 Days (for which he won an Oscar), co-creator of the hit Broadway musical comedy One Touch of Venus starring Mary Martin, as well as many publishing (including twenty-one books), radio, television, and travel writing ventures. He was the brother-in-law of the writer Nathanael West with whom he shared a close relationship up until West’s death in a car accident in 1940 at age thirty-seven, and whose memory and literary reputation he devoted himself
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster
- Year: 1950
- Edition: First Edition
- Binding: hardcover
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