A CHRISTMAS STORY. Drawings by Ben Shahn
Porter, Katherine Anne.

New York: Delacorte Press, (1967). First edition. 1/500 hand-numbered copies, this being copy no. 381, with a special frontispiece drawing. Signed by both the writer and the artist. Small 4to, 34pp; green cloth stamped in gold on the spine; decorated endpapers; with publisher's matching green cloth slipcase with gilt lute after Shahn drawing stamped on front. A touch of overall fading. Near fine. Ms. Porter's family Christmas stories have a poignant afterward: her niece, the beneficiary of the nativity story, died at age 5-1/2. This memorial to her, illustrated by Ben Shahn, is touching. *When the book first issued, booksellers discovered that Ms. Porter's signature was, in fact, auto-pen. According to her bibliographer a "majority of the copies were returned to the publisher for a true signature which the author provided". Katherine Anne Porter's signature appears twice at the colophon. Bixby A16c. (Item ID: 14715)

$150.00