Harry Crosby | Red Skeletons, Paris, 1927, first edition, inscribed by the author

Harry Crosby

Red Skeletons. Paris: Editions Narcisse, 1927

FIRST EDITION, number 333 of 345 copies on vergé Hollande Van Gelder Zonen (of a total edition of 370), INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR, 4to, 9 full-page colour lithographs by Alastair, original wrappers, wrappers slightly soiled

Inscribed by the author to John de Bosschère, the Belgian novelist and illustrator of works by Wilde, Baudelaire and others. Crosby later suppressed the book, buying the unsold copies, 84 in total, and burning them (with the exception of four copies which he blasted to bits with a pistol). The author volunteered for the American Ambulance Service in 1917—aged 19—and was one of the youngest Americans to be awarded the Croix de Guerre.