Books

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. First Edition. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author's first book, an inverted detective story centered around a group of six students studying the classics at Hampden College in Vermont. This copy with a pre-publication inscription to noted bibliophile and publisher Otto Penzler; while Penzler never published Tartt's work, he did convince her to contribute to a poem ("True Crime") to Murder For Love, a 1996 anthology of short stories he edited for Delacorte Press. An attractive copy of a novel that is almost single-handedly credited for popularizing the "dark academia" genre. First Printing. Octavo (24.5cm); original pictorial boards; publisher's printed acetate dustjacket; [xiv],[8]-523,[7]pp. Inscribed by the author on the upper margin of the title page, a week prior to publication, to bibliophile and publisher Otto Penzler and his wife: "To Carolyn + Otto / Warm regards / Donna Tartt / 9/10/92." Light production wrinkle to upper board corners,…

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality, their lives are changed profoundly and, most horribly, they discover how hard it can be to truly live with what they have learned.

First edition has a full number line with '1' present and 'Printed in the United States of America' statement.