Dream West

DAVID NEVIN

Publication: G P Putnam's Sons, 1983, New York

First edition. Thick 8vo. Two-tone quarter cloth and boards, light blue front and rear endpapers, 639 pp., acknowledgments. Laid-in is a Kroch's & Brentano's, Chicago, First edition Circle book mark. Fine, bright copy in a bright dust jacket with a tiny closed tear to the top edge of the front cover.

Superb first edition of this mammoth historical novel about explorer John C. Fremont and his wife Jessie Benton. It was the basis of the 1986 television miniseries, and tipped into this copy is a choice autograph addition: on an inner flyleaf is a 3½" X 5½" glossy portrait of a young RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN (1934-2025), who portrayed Fremont; he inscribes and signs in blue fine line near the bottom "To Terry / Best Wishes / Richard / Chamberlain." Fine. Tipped onto the facing flyleaf is a modern glossy 5" X 7" photograph, a reproduction of a well-known portrait of a young Fremont. Quite an unusual copy.