Books

Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1980. First Edition. Near Fine/Fine. First edition, first printing. Bound in publisher's tan cloth lettered in black on the spine. Near Fine with slight musty odor to pages, otherwise fine. In a Fine unclipped dust jacket. An exceptional copy of this Pulitzer Prize winning novel published posthumously eleven years after John Kennedy Toole's death.

A Confederacy of Dunces is a picaresque novel by American novelist John Kennedy Toole, published by Louisiana State University Press in 1980, 11 years after Toole's suicide. The book's title refers to an epigram from Jonathan Swift's essay, 'Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting': 'When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.' Set in New Orleans, the novel bursts with rich and vivid characters, especially the protagonist, Ignatius J. Reilly, whose comedic misadventures are a highlight of the narrative.

First editions of 'A Confederacy of Dunces' can be identified by the lack of mention of the Pulitzer Prize on the cover and the presence of editorial reviews. Additionally, the correct ISBN number and the date of the print run also help to verify the first edition.