John Shelton Reed (born 1942) is an American sociologist and essayist, author or editor of 23 books, most of them dealing with contemporary America. And at 82 he still has some projects to keep him busy. One of them is a recent bibliographical effort: “In Search of Famous Creoles.”
Ten years ago he ran into a slim volume called Sherwood Anderson and Other Famous Creoles: A Gallery of Contemporary New Orleans. First printed in 1926, it was a collaboration between William Faulkner (as writer) and William Spratling, artist and its illustrator. It was a bit whimsical and in time has become an opportunity to find out where its copies have landed up.
Most books have a publishing history but in most cases, they have disappeared. In a few cases the details have been retained. For Dr. Reed, this book became a challenge when he learned its two print runs are known.
Two editions were released; 250 copies in 1926 and 150 as a second issue in 1927.
With those facts in hand, he began to find every copy he could. How many he found? 129. Most are in libraries and a spattering among dealers and collectors.
And along the way he found evidence of a little bloat. Ultimately, he concluded 432 copies were issued. Of them, 50 were decorated in color by hand.
Ultimately, he concluded the volume’s insubstantial binding may have been the principal reason more copies have not been found.
In our Transactions+, we are showing 16 copies dated 1926, and 2 1927. Most copies Dr. Reed found were in the OCLC.
All in all, his effort yielded a perspective on how collectible paper survives through the years.
Mr. Reed’s bibliographical essay fits into a hard binding issued by Bozart Books.
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