Franklin Library: SIGNED: JOHN BARTH: SOT-WEED FACTOR: MARYLAND: TOBACCO

Description: Franklin Library leather edition of John Barth's "The Sot-Weed Factor," a limited edition, Illustrated by Ben Wohlberg, one of the SIGNED 60 series, Personally Signed by JOHN BARTH, published in 1980. Bound in brown leather, the book has burgundy French moire silk end leaves, satin book marker, hubbed spine, gold gilding on three edges---in near FINE condition. John Barth was born in 1930 in Cambridge, Maryland and grew up along the eastern shore's tidewater region. Like Ebenezer Cooke in "The Sot-Weed Factor," Barth was born an opposite-sex twin. After high school, Barth enrolled at JULLIARD School of Music but later transferred to JOHNS HOPKINS where he graduated with a B.A. in English in 1951. Barth completed an MA at Hopkins and became an instructor of English at Penn State. He later became a professor of English and Creative Writing at Johns Hopkins. "The Sot-Weed Factor" was a bona fide success, drawing rave reviews. "Begotten by Don Quixote upon Fanny Hill, said the Kenyon Review." The New York Times called it "outrageously funny villainously slanderous." Ebenezer Cooke, the protagonist roams the world like Voltaire's Candide. Barth's novel elaborates on the life story of the real-life Ebenezer Cooke, who in 1708 actually did publish his long comic poem "The Sot-Weed Factor" about life in colonial Maryland. [Sot-weed" is an early American slang for tobacco.] Eben's first stay in London is a short one, since his twin, Anna, arrives with news that their father is very ill. One of the taverns Eben frequents is serviced by the procurer John McEvoy and his "Beloved Whore," Joan Toast. Eben, still a virgin---ignores her until one night, on a bet, Joan appears at his room undresses, gets into bed, and demands her fee. Eben, ever a romantic, declares he will have her, but for true love only. Playng Quixote to Joan's Dulcinea, he would not dream of paying the fee. Eben decides his virginity is a sacred gift and preserves his innocence. Of course, Joan leaves in digust. But her pimp returns to Eben's room and demands her fee, for Time is Money. Eben will not budge. Eben later goes to see LORD BALTIMORE to request that he be named Poet Laureate of Maryland. Oddly enough, Baltimore agrees. Eben is captured by pirates, and later discovers opium and a prostitution ring operating out of the old family home at Malden. Through it all, relatives and lovers will reunite, split apart, and reunite again. 735 pages. I offer Combined shipping.

Price: 74.95 USD

Location: Walnut Ridge, Arkansas

End Time: 2025-01-23T18:43:39.000Z

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