MARGARET MITCHELL GONE WITH THE WIND FIRST EDITION & Original D/J & Bonus

  

The most popular novel ever, Gone With The Wind, was written as a part-time hobby by a tiny, bored American Housewife who never dreamed it might be published. Bit by bit, over 10 years, she scribbled thousands of barely-decipherable pages that were jumbled up in dirty envelopes and stacked all over her flat, even under the bed. Often she gave up writing for months at a time, plagued by an inferiority complex, convinced the book was terrible, and had to be goaded by her husband to get back to work. Her passionate American Civil War love story of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler was based on her own disastrous first marriage to a violent, drunken but exiting scoundrel on whom she based the character of Rhett.

And when the book finally brought her overnight fame and millions of dollars, the sudden overwhelming success destroyed her peace of mind and creativity. She never wrote another book. When the novel opens, Scarlett O'Hara is sixteen.

She is vain, self-centered, and very spoiled by her wealthy parents. She can also be insecure, but is very intelligent, despite the Old South's pretence of ignorance and helplessness. She is somewhat unusual among Southern women, whom society preferred to act as dainty creatures who needed protection from their men.

Scarlett is aware that she is only acting empty-headed, and resents the "necessity" of it, unlike most of her peers. This is the rare original dustjacket.

Price-clipped to the inner front prelim. Has a few chips to top and bottom of the spine and corners, with few small closed edge tears and creasing and rubbing to the extremities and folds, and these have now been repaired. It is lightly soiled to colouring. Now housed in a removable protective archival sleeve for protection.

Boards are red cloth with and integral black rectangle which holds the title and author in gilt lettering and decoration. Colour has faded to the bottom of the spine, otherwise a nice clean condition.

Tightly bound to the inner page block. Light browning throughout, otherwise pages are clean and all pages are tightly bound. Photocopy of a newspaper clipping which tells Margaret Mitchell's real-life story.

The character that Rhett was based on was that of her first husband'Red Upshaw'. In 1949 she read a newspaper clipping reporting Red's suicide.

At 47, he had jumped from the fifth floor of a sleazy hotel. Tragically, she herself had only seven months to live. "I'm going to die in a car crash" she said. "I feel very certain of this".

And so she did, knocked down in the street by a speeding driver. The love story was ended.

Very sad real-life story, behind that of'Gone With The Wind! Great addition for any Margaret Mitchell Collector. Small image laid in of Margaret Mitchell, lying in the street after being knocked down and killed.

My ref: 001225 - RAPID DISPATCH.