White Collar: A Novel in Linocuts
San Francisco, CA: Pisani Printing & Publishing Co., [c.1940]. Third Edition. Paperback. Quarto [27.5 cm] in stiff black card wrappers with spine title and cover illustration printed in grey. Black and orange illustrations. Includes the afterword by John L. Lewis. The wraps are pulled away from the staple binding at the joints (wraps still holding tightly to the text block however). The front wrap has several small abraded areas. The preliminary leaves are lightly foxed. The illustrations are very bold, with sharp contrasts. Very good minus. Item #58362
This edition, preceded by the two hand-made editions, is the third and final iteration of Patri's original vision.
A classic from the Great Depression and one of the finest examples of a 'wordless novel'. This work consists of 122 linocuts similar in style to the work of Frans Masereel or early Lynd Ward. Patri was inspired by the stock market crash of 1929 to create something that would help to unify (and unionize) the working classes. He began work on White Collar in 1930 and finally completed the book ten years later. Uncommon in any condition or edition.
"White Collar was to be my contribution to, what I believed then, an indispensable understanding of the necessity of unity among all American workers and voters. I was not a writer, so illustrations in sequence were I thought the answer.
"I had a printing press and lots of linoleum to use for linoleum cuts, so I set to work the idea of doing the entire job myself. I was young, naive and in a hurry, but I soon discovered that a book, a story, an ideal, each is a slow process, even with some help from the family. It took several years to engrave, print, bind and distribute a book that was seen by a very few people who did not need convincing." - Giacomo Patri - June,1975.
Price: $3,000.00