First Edition, First Printing — One of 1,789 Copies
 
A solid, Good+ example of the true first edition of William Faulkner’s modernist masterpiece The Sound and the Fury, widely regarded as one of the most important American novels of the twentieth century. This is the scarce first printing, with the correct “First published 1929” statement on the copyright page and no subsequent printings listed (Petersen A6.1; Meriwether, 1962). Owing to Faulkner’s limited commercial success at the time, publisher Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith issued only 1,789 copies, making surviving examples increasingly difficult to obtain.
 
Bibliographic Details
Author: William Faulkner
Title: The Sound and the Fury
Publisher: Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith, New York
Date: 1929
Edition: First Edition, First Printing
Pagination: 401 pages
Format: Octavo
 
Binding & Condition
Publisher’s original white quarter‑cloth over striking art deco patterned paper boards, with matching endpapers. Top edge dyed blue‑grey; fore‑edge untrimmed.
Boards show heavy edgewear, with corners bumped and rubbed; patterned paper rubbed with a few scrapes.
Spine has been rebacked, with the original backstrip laid down; cloth browned with several small splits along the joints.
A few small tears to the decorative endpapers have been neatly repaired.
Outer margins of several leaves show minor chips and toning.
Now housed in a fine facsimile dust jacket, offering an attractive presentation.
Overall, a respectable and complete first printing of Faulkner’s magnum opus — a cornerstone of any modern literature collection.
 
Provenance
Small ex‑libris label on the front flyleaf of Marynia F. Farnum (1899–1979), American psychiatrist and author of the influential and controversial 1947 bestseller Modern Woman: The Lost Sex. Farnum’s work played a notable role in shaping mid‑century debates around gender and psychology, adding an intriguing historical layer to this copy.