VERY RARE - SCARCE FIRST EDITION - FIRST ISSUE
RARE LIMITED EDITION of an UNCOMMON EDITION
 SIGNED by the AUTHOR


PREJUDICES
First Series
by
HENRY LOUIS MENCKEN


NEW YORK: Published by Alfred Knopf. nd. 1919 [published date: 1919]. Rare First Edition. First Issue. 8vo. 7.5" x 5.25" inches (LxB). Pp. [8], 9-254 pages. Rare First Edition, First Issue in the original publisher's dark blue cloth binding, lettered in gilt on spine & embossed Borzoi motif on the front cover. Prejudices: First Series (1919), a collection of his short essays, includes Mencken's characteristically scathing yet humorous assessments of various literary and artistic figures as well as more general ruminations on American culture. He opens with "Criticism of Criticism of Criticism," a piece deriding contemporary criticism's tendency to lapse into what Mencken terms "pious piffle," whereby an artist is judged by the "rightness" of his orthodoxy rather than his artistic or technical merits. Mencken assaults literary and cultural critics for demanding that artists become "Great Teachers" rather than dutiful reporters on human nature. Furthermore, a "genuine critic of the arts" must act as a catalyst, triggering the spectator's reaction upon encountering the work of art. Mencken's satire targets specific literary figures, and he shamelessly attacks Jack London, H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, William Dean Howells, Thorstein Veblen, Hamlin Garland, and others unfortunate enough to attract his ire.  First Series closes on a surprisingly affirmative note. Mencken's witty musings in "Three American Mortals" honor Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edgar Allen Poe, and Walt Whitman. Indeed, even while condemning the worst aspects of American culture and society, Mencken highlights their most commendable achievements, where he locates his hope for the future.

Henry Louis Mencken inscribed on the front fly leaf by Mencken to Sidney Phillips, NY theater producer.

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Signed Second Series listed for $1500/-
https://www.abaa.org/book/463709177?dcx=463709177&aid=aa&t=1
Signed 1927 Sixth Series listed for $2250/-
https://www.abaa.org/book/1500231619?dcx=1500231619&aid=aa&t=1

From: https://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/mencken/summary.html
Prejudices: First Series (1919), the first of six volumes (published 1919-1927) collecting his short essays, includes Mencken's characteristically scathing yet humorous assessments of various literary and artistic figures as well as more general ruminations on American culture. He opens with "Criticism of Criticism of Criticism," a piece deriding contemporary criticism's tendency to lapse into what Mencken terms "pious piffle," whereby an artist is judged by the "rightness" of his orthodoxy rather than his artistic or technical merits. Mencken assaults literary and cultural critics for demanding that artists become "Great Teachers" rather than dutiful reporters on human nature. Furthermore, a "genuine critic of the arts" must act as a catalyst, triggering the spectator's reaction upon encountering the work of art.
Mencken's satire targets specific literary figures, and he shamelessly attacks H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, William Dean Howells, Thorstein Veblen, Hamlin Garland, and others unfortunate enough to attract his ire. In "The Late Mr. Wells," for example, Mencken engages in a devastating deconstruction of Wells's recent artistic efforts, chiefly disparaging Joan and Peter, which he labels "a botch from end to end." Mencken's critique of Arnold Bennett rests in the writer's lack of emotional investment in his characters, which appear impersonally constructed and overwhelmed by their backgrounds. Nevertheless, Mencken does applaud Bennett's craftsmanship even while undercutting his overall artistry. And William Dean Howells, he argues, while a legend in American letters, writes empty and insipid volumes. Not even George Bernard Shaw, who Mencken earlier praised in his well-received critical text, George Bernard Shaw: His Plays (1905), remains unscathed. In "The Ulster Polonius," Mencken concludes that Shaw is decidedly unoriginal and formulaic. Moreover, just as his current style relies principally on uninspiring platitudes, so his celebrated impudence reveals only extremely poor taste. While few escape the slashing blows of Mencken's severest criticism, Hermann Sudermann's short stories, specifically "The Purpose," do receive measured praise.
Certain traits inform the majority of Mencken's works, namely his mockery of American religious, educational, and political customs. Mencken is highly disdainful of religion, especially the lingering effects of Puritanism, for impeding the course of civilization. In "The Butte Bashkirtseff," for instance, religious beliefs clearly inhibit human beings' natural impulses, which become over-controlled by irrational taboos. Mencken seems equally dubious of the newly rising science of psychology, considering it "chiefly guesswork, empiricism, hocus-pocus, poppycock." While lambasting notions of American etiquette, the four subchapters of "The Blushful Mystery" lament the disappearance of romantic intrigue. As Mencken suggests, the proliferation of books on sex hygiene has scientifically explained away its alluring mystery. He remains forever skeptical of democracy, which promotes group conformity in place of individual thinking. Vociferously attacking American New Thought with its sweeping judgments, Mencken bemoans the loss of Emersonian thought and practices of dissent. But in a move that seems uniquely Menckenian, Prejudices: First Series closes on a surprisingly affirmative note. Mencken's witty musings in "Three American Mortals" honor Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edgar Allen Poe, and Walt Whitman. Indeed, even while condemning the worst aspects of American culture and society, Mencken highlights their most commendable achievements, where he locates his hope for the future..