First and sole edition, number 18 of 50 copies of this short story privately published by the author, originally composed in Berlin in 1928. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title, "For Anthony Hobson affectionately, Jimmy Stern, my first effort 1928, Whitsbury 6. iv. 1975"; together with an autograph letter signed by Stern to Anthony Hobson, dated 24 April 1975, with the original envelope, giving details of Stern's banking life: "In all I spent ('did' or wasted) 2 years in banks - in London, Frankfurt & Berlin. Destined for Stern Brothers (& a premature death) in the city." Stern's most frequently re-printed book, The Hidden Damage (1947), was his account of his work in Germany with the US Strategic Bombing Survey in 1945, where he served along with W. H. Auden. His friends included Auden, Christopher Isherwood, Djuna Barnes, Samuel Beckett and Arthur Miller, whose A View from the Bridge was dedicated to Stern. Anthony Hobson (1921–2014) was the director of Sotheby's and a noted bibliophile.
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