In the Garret
New York: Knopf, 1920. First Edition. Hardcover. 5 1/4 X 7 3/4 Inches. 347 PP. Near Fine / Very Good. Item #8780
First printing in the original DJ. Black cloth binding with very attractive blue paper cover and spine labels intact. Light scuffing and wear to jacket covers and edges. A much nicer copy than typically encountered.
Carl Van Vechten’s In the Garret (1920) captures a turning point in American modernism when art, identity, and irony began to merge into a new urban sensibility. Blending satire and self-reflection, the book dismantles the romantic myth of the artist in isolation while celebrating the theatricality of self-expression - a theme that anticipates later queer and camp aesthetics. Vechten's work had a profound influence on Glenway Westcott and others. Beneath its wit and sophistication, In the Garret reveals Van Vechten’s deeper cultural role as a mediator between high art and bohemian life, and between the emerging modern city and the restless individuals who tried to define themselves within it.
Price: $250.00