The Case of Mr. Crump Signed Association copy Ludwig Lewisohn first 1926

LEWISOHN, Ludwig. The Case of Mr. Crump. Paris: Edward W. Titus, at the sign of the Black Manikin, 1926.
 
First edition. Quarto, 250 x 200 mm. 435 pp. An unnumbered copy. Original printed wrappers, with photographic frontispiece after the pastel portrait by Ratzka. A very good copy. The wrappers are toned, with rubbing and wear to the spine ends and a chip to the upper left corner of the front wrapper. The binding is cracked at the front but remains firm and holding well. Internally very good. Previous owner's bookplate to the front.
 
Inscribed by Lewisohn beneath the frontispiece portrait: "To Jenny & William A. Bradley with the affectionate + grateful regards of Ludwig Lewisohn." A particularly interesting association copy. William Aspinwall Bradley (1878-1939) and Jenny Serruys Bradley (1886-1983) founded their Paris literary agency in 1923 and became important intermediaries between French and American writers and publishers. Their remarkable client list included William Faulkner, Gertrude Stein, Henry Miller, Raymond Chandler, Colette, Andre Gide, Andre Malraux, Albert Camus and Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
 
The Bradleys had a direct role in bringing The Case of Mr. Crump into print in Paris. Lewisohn had written the novel after the breakdown of his first marriage and American publishers were unwilling to issue it because of the perceived danger of libel proceedings. Contemporary accounts record that the book consequently had to be published privately in Paris, while later scholarship specifically credits the Bradleys with having brought the novel to publisher Edward W. Titus in 1926.
 
Against that background, Lewisohn's inscription to William and Jenny Bradley acquire particular significance, with thanks given to the two literary agents who had helped secure publication.
The novel subsequently achieved considerable international recognition, was translated into several languages, before finally appearing in an authorised American edition many years later.