Christmas Story (INSCRIBED to Huntington Cairns)
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1946. Bill Crawford. First Edition. INSCRIBED by Mencken "For Huntingtin Cairns with my deepest thanks" on title page. 12mo; 31, [1]pp. A near fine copy (discoloration to lower rear board) in publisher's blue cloth, spine titled in gold, 2 3/4" square illustration tipped to front board; illustrated endpapers, dust jacket darkened along folds, else fine. Baltimore attorney Huntington Cairns, a close friend of Mencken's, was the U.S. Treasury Department’s legal advisor and official U.S. censor who (in)famously placed Henry Miller's 'Tropic of Cancer' on the list of books 'banned' from import into the United States. Miller sent a copy of his book to Mencken, who recognized its literary merit and discussed it Cairns. Mencken then informed Miller of Cairns’ interest and “bewilderment” at the book and Cairns privately advised Miller how he might overcome the censorship ban. This started a 25-year correspondence and friendship between the two (Miller later described Cairns as 'one of his only two American friends'). In later years Cairns served as Secretary/General Counsel of the National Gallery of Art and, after Mencken's death in 1956, became one of his key literary chaampions. In 1965 he edited and introduced 'H. L. Mencken. The American Scene. A Reader.' An important association inscription from "The Sage of Baltimore" to his close personal friend Huntington Cairns. Item #23177
Price: $500.00