I have been in the rare and antiquarian book business for over forty years; my family has been in the rare books business since 1876. Rare books are in my blood.
Good-bye Mr. Chips
Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1934. Item #06531
A Presentation Pair to Jean Hersholt
Association Copies of Exceptional Appeal — The Anglo-American “Mr. Chips” United
HILTON, James. Good-bye Mr. Chips. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1934.
[Together with:]
HILTON, James. Goodbye Mr. Chips. [London]: Hodder & Stoughton, 1934.
First American and First British editions, both inscribed by the author to the distinguished actor and humanitarian Jean Hersholt.
First American edition. Octavo (7 1/2 x 5 inches; 190 x 127 mm.). [iv], [1–2], 3–125, [1] pp. Title printed in black and blue.
Publisher’s tan linen over boards, front cover and spine lettered in blue. In the original pictorial dust jacket printed in blue and brown. Signed bookplate of Jean Hersholt on the front paste-down.
Inscribed on the front free endpaper: “For Jean Hersholt / with warmest regards / and admiration / James Hilton / Nov. 1943.” A remarkably fine copy, the dust jacket unusually fresh and bright.
Together with:
First British edition. Octavo (7 9/16 x 5 3/8 inches; 189 x 136 mm.). [1–6], 7–127, [1] pp. Title printed in black and blue.
Publisher’s blue cloth, front cover and spine lettered in gilt, with decorative endpapers. In the original pictorial dust jacket printed in blue and black, retaining the scarce “Evening Standard Book of the Month for October” wraparound band. Signed bookplate of Jean Hersholt on the front paste-down.
Inscribed on the front free endpaper: “For Jean Hersholt / with warmest regards / James Hilton / Nov. 1943.”
A fine copy, preliminary leaves and edges lightly foxed (as often), the jacket exceptionally well-preserved.
Both volumes chemised together in a custom red cloth folder, with the Jean Hersholt library reference label affixed to the lower panel, and housed in a red cloth slipcase with twin red morocco-backed spines, lettered in gilt.
A highly desirable Anglo-American presentation pair, uniting the true first editions of one of the most beloved short novels of the twentieth century, both personally inscribed by James Hilton to Jean Hersholt.
Jean Hersholt (1886–1956), best remembered for his role in Heidi and for his enduring humanitarian work - commemorated today in the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - was closely connected to literary and cinematic culture of the period. Hilton’s presentation of Mr. Chips to Hersholt in 1943 is particularly resonant, coming at the height of the story’s international fame following its immensely successful 1939 film adaptation starring Robert Donat, which won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
The pairing is especially notable: the American and British first editions, each inscribed at the same time, suggesting a deliberate and meaningful gift rather than a casual signature. Such coordinated presentation copies are rarely encountered and underscore Hilton’s regard for Hersholt.
A Cornerstone of Modern Sentimental Fiction, first published in 1934, Good-bye Mr. Chips achieved immediate and lasting popularity for its gentle, nostalgic portrait of an English schoolmaster’s life. Its brevity belies its emotional depth, and it remains one of the most enduring literary evocations of English institutional life.
A superb association set of the highest order - linking literature, cinema, and humanitarian history - preserved in condition rarely seen.
Price: $6,500.00