Monsieur Beaucaire. By Booth Tarkington. Illustrated by T.M. Cleland. Collector’s Edition. Easton Press. Norwalk, 1981.

In his lifetime, Booth Tarkington was one of America’s most popular and celebrated novelists. He is one of just a handful to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction twice. He published dozens of works in the first half of the twentieth century, many of which were highly acclaimed bestsellers. Strangely, however, his legacy has not carried over the decades. Few scholars or readers today come back to his work. But if they would, Monsieur Beaucaire is a welcoming entrypoint. It is a short historical novel set in eighteenth century England and France. It was one of Tarkington’s first published novels and it was adapted to film and opera, making it one of his most widely enjoyed works in his lifetime.

This collector’s edition is in fine condition. In the original leather, finely gilt stamped. Raised bands. Gilt spine label. Text block fine. Gilt edges. Silk moire endpapers and bookmark sewn in.

A fine collector’s copy of Monsieur Beaucaire.