Les Frères Zemganno

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Autograph; xii, 375 pages; A lovely copy of the first edition of this novel. Bound circa 1900 in deep red half crushed levant morocco over pink linen, five raised bands on the spine, simple gilt rules delineate the edges of the leather spine and corners, with an all-over decorative pattern painstakingly built of individual gilt tools in the four spine panels not occupied by direct gilt lettering of the title and authors' names, publication date "1877" at foot of spine. Marbled endpapers of various shades of red and gold, top edges gilt, others trimmed rough. A fine binding, beautifully executed of the finest materials, with the slug in tiny letters at the top corner of the verso of the front-free endpaper: "Bound by Stikeman & Co." With the elaborate pictorial bookplate of Katherine MacKay, signed (in the plate) by Frances W. Delehanty. Her husband was Clarence Hungerford Mackay (April 17, 1874 November 12, 1938) -- an American financier, who inherited most of what was believed to be a $500 million estate in 1902. He was the son of John William Mackay, a silver miner turned telegraph mogul. Clarence and his first wife, Katherine (née Duer) Mackay had a home in New York City, as well as the celebrated Harbor Hill in Roslyn, Long Island, designed by Stanford White of McKim, Mead, and White. It was the largest home White ever designed. Katherine Duer Mackay (1880 1930) was a beautiful debutante from an old, high society, New York family. Clarence met her on a steamship crossing between New York and England in about 1897. They fell in love and were married on May 17, 1898. Harbor Hill, the site of their future estate with the striking view of Hempstead Harbor. Katherine was a suffragette and a champion of women's rights and became the first woman member of the Roslyn school board in 1905. She worked closely with Stanford White on the design and siting of her spectacular house - Harbor Hill. And her collaboration with the soon-to-be notorious architect did not end with Harbor Hill. On Christmas Day, 1905, she announced her decision to build Trinity's Parish House as a memorial to her father, William Alexander Duer. A few weeks later, she decided to replace the existing church, a "board and batten" Gothic Revival structure built in 1862. The new church, to be designed, like the Parish House, by Stanford White, would be a memorial to her mother, Ellin Travers Duer, and would cost 'not more than $40,000 plus $5,000 for landscaping." Trinity Church is one of White's last commissions before he was shot by deranged socialite-millionaire Harry K. Thaw in Madison Square Garden in a fit of jealousy concerning Thaw s wife. "The murder of the architect", observes church records, "did not delay the building of the church." White had finished drawing plans before his death. His associates completed the church with copious advice from Katherine Mackay. Together, White and Katherine MacKay turned to the great Louis Comfort Tiffany for windows for Trinity Church. There are also five beautifully rendered L. C. Tiffany windows lighting the Parish Hall. Adoring angels flank the center panels, which depict children adoring the young Jesus. The models for these faces were Katherine MacKay's children - Katherine, Ellin and John. [The daughter Ellin would later attract some notoriety for her 1926 marriage to songwriter Irving Berlin against her father's wishes; he disinherited her. Her mother, Katherine, the owner of this superb first edition of the Goncourt's 'Germinie Lacerteux,' was out of the loop on this stern decision at the time. Katherine left Clarence and her three children to run away with Clarence's doctor, Dr. Joseph Blake in 1910. The marriage officially ended in divorce in Paris in 1914. The book itself is interesting in some of these same ways. Jules et Edmond de Goncourt formed a partnership that is unique among writers. Not only did they write all their books together, but they are said not to have spent more than a single day apart in. N° de ref. del artículo 39509

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