Hotel Taft’s gift edition of Pride and Prejudice

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Creator

Jane Austen

Title

Hotel Taft’s gift edition of Pride and Prejudice

Date

ca. 1926-1930

Description

Built in 1926, the Hotel Taft was a premier tourist hotel with nearly 2,000 rooms in hallmark décor of orange-and-black. Think of this book as a cross between a souvenir ashtray and a Gideon Bible, with telltale stains suggesting this copy doubled irreverently as a coaster! The regifting of books was common during the Great Depression and this copy is inscribed on the inside cover “From Dave to Zelma,” with a December 1931 date.

Source

From the collection of Janine Barchas