William Faulkner, 1931

Sanctuary
William Faulkner, 1931
FAULKNER, William (1897-1962). Sanctuary. New York: Jonathan Cape, 1931.

First edition, first printing, of Faulkner's fifth novel. Set in the Memphis underworld (Memphis was at this time the murder capital of the United States), Sanctuary was largely based on a story that Faulkner had heard from a woman in a New Orleans nightclub about her abduction by an impotent gangster. Faulkner himself disparaged the novel but it brought him popularity and the rights were even sold to the movies. Petersen A8.2.

Octavo. Original grey cloth spine and magenta boards, with matching patterned endpapers; printed dust jacket (light wear at the extremities, minor neat repairs at flaps); custom box.