Description

“A WHISPER OF SOMEONE CALLED SPARTACUS WHO HAS SET THE WORLD ON FIRE”:
SPARTACUS, BOLDLYSIGNED BY HOWARD FAST AND KIRK DOUGLAS

FAST, Howard. Spartacus. New York: Published by the Author, (1951). Octavo, original green cloth, original dust jacket. Housed in custom black slipcase.

First edition, boldly signed by Harold Fast and by Kirk Douglas, executive producer and star of Stanley Kubrick’s Oscar-winning 1960 film adaptation.

Son of a factory worker, Howard Fast published his first novel before the age of 20 and quickly established himself as “a literary phenomenon? the champion of the progressive novel in the United States” (Guardian). When publishers rejected this epic work after Fast was blacklisted, he published the novel himself and its immediate popularity made Spartacus “the only self-published best-seller in recent history” (Wald, “Legacy”). The 1960 premiere of Stanley Kubrick’s Oscar-winning film adaptation broke the Hollywood blacklist by awarding on-screen credit to screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. With original printed publisher’s note from Howard Fast laid in.

Book fine; lightest soiling to bright, about-fine dust jacket.