Giants in the Earth: A Saga of the Prairie
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1927. First printing. Hardcover. xxii, 465 pages, plus 3 pp. ads at rear. First printing, in jacket. Hardcover. Bound in light-green cloth with gilt decorations on spine, still bright. Brown jacket shows a prairie farm scene. Slightly frayed at head and tail of spine; mild tanning to endpapers; previous owner's name on front pastedown. Though the jacket is clean, its spine panel is entirely separated from the front and rear panels, and it is chipped at the top and bottom with nearly complete loss of the word GIANTS at the top and HARPERS at the bottom. Other tears where the front and rear panels meet the flaps. Jacket enclosed in (and held together pretty well by) a clear, archival-quality, removable protective cover. Item #878
First printing of the most prominent title in Scandinavian immigrant literature. Originally written in Norwegian and published in Norway in two parts, in 1924 and 1925, under the titles I De Dage (In Those Days) and Riket Grundlaegges (Founding the Kingdom). The book was translated into English by the author with the assistance of the poet, journalist, fiction writer and sea historian Lincoln Colcord, who also contributed a twelve-page introduction, primarily a discussion of Rolvaag's background but also touching on the intersection of Norwegian and Norwegian-American literature.
Price: $95.00