Travels in Arabia Deserta [Presented by Theodore Dreiser to John Cowper Powys]

SUPERB ASSOCIATION COPY inscribed on the title page 'My Christmas present to Jock Dec 22nd 1926 Theodore Dreiser To John Cowper Powys.' On the half title Powys has inscribed the work a second time to pass the book on some thirty years later: 'For Malcolm [Elwin] from John 5th of November 1954 [cuneiform inscription] see Page 291. Would I could write on the rock behind our home or Two Rooms and one staircase at Blaenau Ffestiniog.. In the antique Teyma language. but know not what the sentence means!' Navy blue cloth, fading to gilt spine lettering. Map in rear pocket; blue endpapers: the one volume thin paper edition. Short tear along gutter at head of half title, otherwise very good. Laid in, an exuberant letter from Powys which presents 'The Volume of Arabia Deserta given to me by Dreiser.. It is a possession because when Dreiser made a terrific hit with An American Tragedy he came to us when we were in my sister Marian's Garden in Palisades New York State and cried aloud Jack I may say I am affluent what wd you like of half of my kingdom and I answered like a shot. O I do so want Arabia Deserta...' The effusive double inscription fully conveys the warmth of the friendship between the British and American novelists that began in 1915 and flourished until Dreiser's death.