Title page (frame, three compartments: LAURENCE STERNE |—| A | SENTIMENTAL | JOURNEY | THROUGH | FRANCE AND ITALY | ILLUSTRATED BY | MAHLON BLAINE |—| THREE SIRENS PRESS | NEW YORK ||
Title verso: (top) COPYRIGHT, 1930, BY WILLIAMS, BELASCO & MEYERS | PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | (bottom) BY J. J. LITTLE & IVES COMPANY, NEW YORK ||
Pagination: [1-6] 7-192, frontispiece, headpiece, and 4 plates within collation (pp. 45, 85, 141, and 185) after Blaine’s pen drawings in the woodcut manner.
Binding: quarter lilac morocco with stamped brown lettering over blue cloth, design elements and lettering to spine, top edge gilt, fore-edge untrimmed.
Size: 24.5 x 16 cm
Edition: presumably 1st edition with plates after Blaine.
Contributors:
Sterne, Laurence (British-Irish, 1713 – 1768) – author of the text.
Blaine, Mahlon (American, 1894 – 1969) – illustrator (pseudonym: G. Christopher Hudson).
Three Sirens Press (NY); Williams, Belasco, and Meyers (NY) – publishers.
J. J. Little & Ives Company (NY) – printer.
Compare to the re-printed edition by Halcyon House, [c. 1950] in the collection [LIB-2783.2021].
As stated, the copyright is held by Williams, Belasco, and Meyers, who are: Joseph Meyers (c. 1898 – 1957), his sister Edna Williams, and David Belasco (1853 – 1931). “Joseph Meyers was described by Bennet Cerf (Modern Library, Random House) as a “notorious pirate” in Gertzman’s book Bookleggers and Smuthounds, and the trio of presses allegedly indulged in reprinting numerous books without holding the copyright to those titles. By not paying copyright fees, Meyers and Williams were able to print and sell good quality illustrated books at prices that were below typical smaller, unillustrated reprint series of the 1930s.” [cit.]
