Chains: Lesser Novels and Stories.

Signed Limited First Edition of Theodore Dreiser's Chains

Chains: Lesser Novels and Stories.

DREISER, Theodore.

Item Number: 74586

New York: Boni & Liveright, 1927.

Signed limited edition of Dreiser’s second short story collection, with two stories published herein for the first time. Octavo, original black cloth. Limited to 440 copies, 425 of which were for sale, signed by Theodore Dreiser. In very good condition.

Published shortly after Dreiser’s masterful novel An American Tragedy, this collection of 15 short stories contains two published for the first time, along with the title story “Chains,” a work hailed as “experimental in its form and risqué… Its content challenged the conventional perceptions of love and marriage [and] the story’s form completely defied narrative techniques.” This collection furthered the praise of critics such as John Cowper Powys, who declared Dreiser to be “a greater realist than Zola.” The provocative foreword of Chains summarizes “the dominant theme of the book, namely, that human beings are ‘chained’ by external and internal forces and therefore limited in their ability to effect change and liberate themselves… Published on 30 April 1927 by Boni & Liveright and followed two weeks later by a special signed and numbered edition, Chains was Dreiser’s second short story collection” (Newlin, 55).

We're sorry, this item has sold.

Ask a Question SHIPPING & GUARANTEE