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[NY], Saturday Evening Post, 1932.

A previously unknown Faulkner "A" item — an offprint from the March 5, 1932 issue of the Saturday Evening Post.

In long-accepted Faulkner lore, the first and only separate edition of Turn About was the 1939 edition published by W. L. Massiah of Ottawa, Canada, which has been considered Faulkner’s scarcest "A" item, with approximately seven known copies. Offered here is a 1932 offprint — 7 years earlier than the Massiah edition — with no other known copies.

Faulkner’s story "Turn About" was first published in The Saturday Evening Post on March 5, 1932, with two bibliographically significant markers: the second paragraph includes a description of one character as having "a pink-and-white face and blue eyes, and a little dull gold mustache above a mouth like a girl's mouth," and the text is broken up into 10 parts, each identified with a Roman numeral, from I to X.

The earliest book publications of the story — in O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1932 and in Faulkner’s collection Doctor Martino and Other Stories, published in 1934 — leave out both the "gold mustache" and the text breaks. The former change seems likely to have been authorial, rather than editorial, which means that Faulkner changed the text of the story, removing the "gold mustache" phrase, before the end of 1932, when the O. Henry collection was published. The 1939 Massiah edition includes the phrase, which is how it was concluded that it had been printed from the text of the Post story, rather than from one of the later book publications. The Massiah publication also retains the 10 text breaks, but rather than being identified by Roman numerals, the breaks are separated with a filigree design.

The 1932 offprint offered here includes the "gold mustache" phrase, as well as the 10 text breaks of the original Post publication, with Roman numerals delineating the sections — the only place, other than in the original magazine itself, where Roman numerals are used in the text.

Carl Petersen, the renowned Faulkner collector, did not have a copy of Massiah’s Turn About in his collection when he published his 1975 bibliography. By 1991, when Peter Howard of Serendipity Books published the 643-page catalog of Petersen's Faulkner collection, he did have a copy, which Serendipity valued at $17,500, calling it "by far the rarest of Faulkner's published books." Christie's auction house called the Massiah edition "exceedingly scarce" and noted that "no copies have appeared at auction in at least 50 years" in a 2010 auction listing.

As best we have been able to determine, this 1932 Saturday Evening Post offprint displaces the 1939 edition of Turn About as Faulkner’s scarcest "A" item: it is previously unknown, contemporaneous with the initial story publication, and possibly, at this point, one of a kind.

28 stapled pages; one page corner turned; a handful of mostly marginal pencil markings ("x's"); near fine in stapled wrappers.

[#035975] $25,000

(NY), Smith & Haas, (1932). A Yoknapatawpha County novel that is considered his "most penetrating and dramatic analysis of contemporary Southern society." Fine in a fine dust jacket: a strikingly beautiful copy of one of the high spots of 20th century American literature: probably the brightest, freshest copy we've seen in 40+ years of selling modern first editions; the orange topstain is as bright as the orange of the fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom three-quarter leather clamshell case. [#034924] $15,000

New York, Boni & Liveright, 1927. Faulkner's second novel, which had a first printing of 3047 copies. Bookplate gently tipped to the front pastedown. Slight push to the crown and trace wear to corners, but a very near fine copy with the orange stamping on the front cover and spine still bright and fresh, in a lightly rubbed, near fine example of the first issue "mosquitoes" dust jacket. A very attractive copy of a book seldom found in this condition. [#034923] $8,500

NY, Boni & Liveright, (1926). His second book, first novel. Modest wear to corners and spine gilt. A near fine copy, lacking the rare dust jacket. In custom gilt-stamped, full leather slipcase. [#034922] $2,500

(n.p.), Twentieth Century Fox, 1957. The "Final Script" of the screenplay adaptation of Faulkner's novel. The movie starred Yul Brynner and Joanne Woodward. 150 pages. Wear to the yapped covers, and fragile along the spine. Stamped as copy "32." A very good copy, now protected by a custom clamshell case. [#034948] $2,500

NY, Random House, (1959). The limited edition of the third volume in his Snopes trilogy. Copy No. 91 of 500 copies signed by the author. This title was a National Book Award finalist in 1960. A fine copy in a near fine, original acetate dustwrapper with a few tiny chips and tears. A very nice copy. [#034941] $1,500

(Paris), Les Editions des Minuit, 1948. The first French edition of his second novel, first published in 1927. Of a total edition of 200 copies, this is Copy No. 27 of 50 copies printed "sur velin superieur." Pages uncut; a fine copy, in a near fine, French-folded glassine dustwrapper. An extremely small limitation for a Faulkner novel; the 1/50 issue is very scarce in the market. [#034930] $750

NY, Random House, (1959). The first trade edition of the final book in Faulkner's Snopes trilogy. A fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with light edge wear and fading to the spine lettering. A Burgess 99 title. [#034942] $500

NY, Random House, (1948). By most accounts, this novel -- which deals with the legacy of black-white relations in the South -- was the book that cinched the Nobel Prize for him, which he won in 1949. Some fading to the top stain, else a fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with slight rubbing to the edges and folds. [#034929] $450

[Paris], Gallimard, (1962). The first French edition, limited issue. Copy No. 49 of 66 numbered copies on pure fil. Sunning to wrappers; near fine. [#034943] $450

[Paris], Gallimard, (1952). The first French edition. This is Copy No. 123 of 125 numbered copies on "velin pur fil" (there were also 6 hors commerce copies in this binding). Pages uncut. Slight tanning to the spine; near fine in wrappers and glassine dustwrapper. [#034936] $375

[Paris], Gallimard, (1952). The first French edition. This is Copy No. 70 of 131 copies on "velin pur fil." Petersen A26.41. Spine tanned, with mild slant; very good in wrappers and glassine dustwrapper. [#034937] $350

(Paris), Les Editions des Minuit, 1948. The first French edition of his second novel, first published in 1927. Of a total edition of 200 copies, this is Copy No. 58 of 150 copies printed "sur alfa-mousse des paperteries." Pages uncut; dampstaining to the upper outer corner of rear pages. Near fine in a very good, French-folded glassine dustwrapper. [#034931] $300

Barcelona, Luis de Caralt, (1954). The first Spanish edition of Soldiers' Pay. Peterson A2.30 (incorrectly described as the first Catalan edition). Fine in a near fine, spine-tanned dust jacket. [#034940] $250

Stuttgart, Scherz & Goverts, (1951). Petersen A26.37. First German edition, published just after he won the Nobel Prize. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. With publisher's pamphlet laid in, announcing 1952 releases, and original wraparound band (torn) laid in. [#034933] $200

Amsterdam, Wereld, (1951). A Dutch edition. Not in Petersen. Fading to top stain; near fine in a very good, rubbed dust jacket with one corner chip. [#034934] $150

[Milan], Garzanti, (1953). Petersen A2.28. First Italian edition. Edge-tanned pages, else near fine in a good dust jacket with chipping to the corners, edges, and spine ends. Publisher's bookmark with a list of translated authors laid in. [#034939] $125

London, Scolar Press, 1977. The first British edition. Trace shelf wear; still fine in a very near fine dust jacket. [#035088] $30