Scribners First Edition Sources of ML Titles

In 1938, the Rare Books division of Scribner's produced a catalog of Modern Library source books. Sold out of its rare book outlet on New York's 5th Avenue, the catalogue featured available first editions (through the store, of course!) whose text was the source of the current Modern Library list. The individual entries contain some pretty interesting information about the sources. Copies of this come up on eBay and elsewhere on the Internet fairly frequently for between $50 and $100.

The images below are pretty self-explanatory. The two-page text spread are non-contiguous pages from the introduction; the bottom image is a typical entry. Note the then-current price for a first edition.

Thanks to Keith Polasko of New York for sending most of the images and for tempting me to create this page.