GERSHWIN, George; JABLONSKI, Edward

Gershwin

Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1987. Item #05862

From the Gershwin Circle - An Advance Proof with Hollywood Reach
A Pre-Publication Copy of the Definitive Gershwin Biography, with Publisher’s Appeal to Liza Minnelli

[GERSHWIN, George]. JABLONSKI, Edward. Gershwin. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., [1987].

First edition. Advance Uncorrected Proof. Octavo (9 5/8 x 6 5/8 inches; 244 x 168 mm.). [2], xviii, [1]–419, [1, blank] pp.

Publisher’s original pink wrappers, front cover and spine lettered in black. A fine, unusually well-preserved example.

Loosely inserted is an original typed letter on Doubleday letterhead, dated May 11, 1987, signed by Harold Kuebler, Senior Editor, and addressed to:

Liza Minnelli
c/o Creative Management Associates
New York
The letter announces the forthcoming publication of Edward Jablonski’s biography and solicits Minnelli’s endorsement, noting: Jablonski’s nearly fifty-year engagement with the Gershwin circle; His correspondence with Ira Gershwin; Use of Gershwin Archives material, interview tapes, and unpublished photographs and the publisher’s hope that Minnelli might provide a supporting quotation.
Stamped “Received May 22 1987 Michael R. Black,” indicating internal agency handling.

An appealing and context-rich pre-publication artifact, linking the scholarly authority of Edward Jablonski with the living performance tradition of Gershwin interpretation, embodied by Liza Minnelli.

Advance Uncorrected Proofs are, by nature, ephemeral - produced in small numbers for reviewers, insiders, and promotional outreach. What elevates this example is the surviving publisher’s letter, which captures a precise moment in the book’s launch strategy: Doubleday actively seeking validation from leading performers closely associated with the American musical canon.

Minnelli, as daughter of Judy Garland and a major interpreter of the Great American Songbook, represents exactly the sort of cultural authority the publisher hoped to enlist. The letter thus provides a fascinating window into the marketing and reception of Gershwin’s legacy in the late twentieth century.

Price: $180.00