The Valley of Decision. (In 2 Volumes) **Composer Edward and Marion MacDowell's copy** by Wharton, Edith
The Valley of Decision. (In 2 Volumes) **Composer Edward and Marion MacDowell's copy** by Wharton, Edith, view 1
The Valley of Decision. (In 2 Volumes) **Composer Edward and Marion MacDowell's copy** by Wharton, Edith, view 2
The Valley of Decision. (In 2 Volumes) **Composer Edward and Marion MacDowell's copy** by Wharton, Edith, view 3
The Valley of Decision. (In 2 Volumes) **Composer Edward and Marion MacDowell's copy** by Wharton, Edith, view 4
The Valley of Decision. (In 2 Volumes) **Composer Edward and Marion MacDowell's copy** by Wharton, Edith, view 5
The Valley of Decision. (In 2 Volumes) **Composer Edward and Marion MacDowell's copy** by Wharton, Edith, view 6
The Valley of Decision. (In 2 Volumes) **Composer Edward and Marion MacDowell's copy** by Wharton, Edith, view 7
The Valley of Decision. (In 2 Volumes) **Composer Edward and Marion MacDowell's copy** by Wharton, Edith, view 8
The Valley of Decision. (In 2 Volumes) **Composer Edward and Marion MacDowell's copy** by Wharton, Edith, view 9
The Valley of Decision. (In 2 Volumes) **Composer Edward and Marion MacDowell's copy** by Wharton, Edith, view 10
The Valley of Decision. (In 2 Volumes) **Composer Edward and Marion MacDowell's copy** by Wharton, Edith, view 11
The Valley of Decision. (In 2 Volumes) **Composer Edward and Marion MacDowell's copy** by Wharton, Edith, view 12

The Valley of Decision. (In 2 Volumes) **Composer Edward and Marion MacDowell's copy**

by Wharton, Edith

Published by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1902. First Edition, first printing
First Edition, first printing, published Feb. 1902. Hard cover 8vo in red cloth, titles blocked to spine in gold, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Printed on laid paper, by D.B. Updike at The Merrymount Press, Boston identifies first printing. Bookplate of Composer Edward MacDowell and Marion MacDowell to front endpaper each volume. Title pages in red and black. Collation: VOLUME I: [1], title page], [copyright], [dedication], [blank], [Contents Vol. 1], [blank], Book I "The Old Order": 3-112pp. [Book II: half title, [blank], Book II "The New Light"115- 342[343]pp., [2]. VOLUME 2: [blank], [half title], [blank], [title page vol. II], [copyright pg], [Contents Vol. II], [blank,] [Half title Book III, The Choice], [blank], 3-141pp., [blank], [half title Book IV], [blank], Book IV The Reward 145-311 [312pp.], [3]pp.**CONDITION: Very Good. Moderate lean. Some marks to covers and wear to head and tail of spine, light rubbing at tips. Front hinges starting and one near-rear hinge noted over-opened. Some light foxing to endpapers, prelims and occasionally throughout. One roughly opened page noted. Now in mylar. **This was the FIRST NOVEL, a work of historical fiction, of the American author EDITH WHARTON (1862-1937), born in New York and later residing at Lenox, Massachusetts during her marriage. It follows the fortunes of a young lad, Odo Valsecca, from hard-scrabble roots as an unfortunate foster child on a rural Italian estate in Lombardy in the late eighteenth century; this being a time of great political and philosophical upheaval as the old feudal orders are challenged by newly imported and "dangerous" ideas of social, and political reform, and new ideas of the Enlightenment and which clash head-on with Church authority. He is named the heir apparent of the dukedom, travels and negotiates the intrigues of the various courts of his grandfather, the Marchioness of Donnaz (sic) in the mountainous, northerly Valle d'Aosta, as well as his mother's people at the court of the Duke of Pianura. Spies, secret study of the physical sciences, the burning of great Renaissance works of art, the beauty of Italian courtyard gardens, and a wide cast of secondary characters flesh out this story. A supposed Illuminati wizard/alchemist even makes a memorable appearance in a cabalistic ceremony disrupted by the office of the Inquisition. Rival factions of Naples and Sicily, Genoa and Venice are brought to light in this novel which goes far in illuminating this complex historical period. **Presence of fictional descriptions of Italian landscaped gardens in the novel were inspired by Wharton's family travels in the region during her childhood. (She co-authored several non-fiction books on the topic with Boston's acclaimed architect and interior designer Ogden Codman Jr., including 1904's "Italian Villas and Their Gardens.") **PROVENANCE: With the bookplate of Edward MacDowell and Marion MacDowell. Founding professor of the music department --and ardent advocate of the other liberal arts --at Columbia Univ., Mr. MacDowell was one of America's topmost composers at the turn of the twentieth century. He was, additionally, a poet, fine artist, amateur architect and novelist, whom with his wife, later founded the MacDowell artist colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire around 1905, which hosted the writer Willa Cather, among others. MacDowell was also among the first members elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. S. Garrison (1990), A6 1.a. MacDowelldotorg. OTHER RELATED MATERIALS: See our listing number 9733 for a good historical companion-read: "The History of the Reign of Charles the Fifth. By William Robertson, D.D. with An Account of the Emperor's Life After His Abdication. (New Edition in 3 Volumes) Also see our numbers 9669, "Travels in the Two Sicilies," and 9781, "Notices and Descriptions of Antiquities of the Provincia Romana of Gaul... " for illustrations of the Greek and Roman artifacts described by Wharton making the rounds at the Court of Naples. Also, see the work of William Ramesey, a seventeenth century astrologer who may have been an influence on the character of Doctor Heiligenstern, our number 9862. (AMJ)

Ref: FICT20 9883

$595.00