His mother called them his gems and often asked him why he liked things that were worn and old. It would have been hard to tell her. But there was something about the way in which the link of a chain was worn or the thread on a bolt or a castor-wheel that gave him a vague feeling of pain when he ran his fingers over them. They were like worn shoe soles or very thin dimes. You never saw them wear, you only knew they were worn, obscurely aching.

Here we offer the first retail edition, stated second printing, of the American modernist classic novel, Call It Sleep, by Henry Roth, published in 1935 by Robert O. Ballou, New York. This copy comes wrapped in a professional facsimile of its original first edition dust jacket.

Clean boards. Spine is lightly sunned, as are the board edges (please see pics). Clean, intact, and uninscribed endpapers.  Binding is very tight and square; text is very clean, bright, and crisp. A few of the pages were cut jaggedly (in those days, books were often sold with uncut edges, so that one would need to "open" every 8th page with a razor or letter opener as one read). 599 pages, approximately 8.25 x 6-inches. The dust jacket comes sleeved in ph-neutral Mylar and ready to slip into your collection. 

This classic first will make a wonderful addition to your collection or a very special gift.

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