[8] pp..(5 3/8” x 3 13/16”), original stapled wrappers.  First Edition limited to 500 copies. Also includes:

• A Garland for Jake Zeitlin on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday & the Anniversary of his 40th year in the Book Trade, published by Grant Dahlstrom and Saul Marks in 1967 and limited to 800 copies.

A notorious Huxley rarity, printed by Ward Ritchie for “the dean of Southern California booksellers,” Jake Zeitlin, upon the opening of his new shop at 624 South Carondelet in Los Angeles on June 15, 1938. Limited to 500 copies, but in actuality much scarcer than this limitation would indicate. Zeitlin’s explanation of its rarity was that handfuls of this piece were picked up at his opening party, never to be seen again; he thought, perhaps, the culprit was Ritchie himself, as Jake was characteristically late in paying his printing bills. Huxley who lived in Los Angeles for many years, was a Zeitlin customer and personal friend. The subject of this discourse is, of course, books: “Myself a reading-addict, I can claim a first-hand acquaintance with this delightful vice, for which men have been known to sacrifice health and wealth, their nearest and dearest, their duty and what the rest of the world regards as pleasure. And the beauty of these sacrifices is that they are made with a good conscience, in the conviction that the sacrificer is pursuing the Highest Good.” This copy is inscribed by Zeitlin on the rear panel.

Donated by johnson rare books & archives in memory of Michael R. Thompson.