Lot 186: FAULKNER, William (1897-1962). The Sound and the Fury & As I Lay Dying. New

FAULKNER, William (1897-1962). The Sound and the Fury & As I Lay Dying. New York: The Modern Library, 1946. A presentation copy inscribed to his longtime friend: “To Phil Stone from Bill Faulkner.” Phil Stone (1893-1967) and William Faulkner both hailed from Oxford, Mississippi, where they met during the summer of 1914. Stone, a law student, quickly became the younger man’s close friend and confdant; older by four years and outgoing, he was “uniquely ftted to serve as William Faulkner’s friend and mentor. He was a compulsive talker, a man who loved to teach and tell stories. Moved by impulses toward literary creation but lacking the drive to carry them through to fruition, he could satisfy them only vicariously. He would later say of himself, ‘I’m like an elaborate, intricate piece of machinery which doesn’t quite work’” (Blotner 44). As they grew older, Stone encouraged his friend’s literary interests: his secretaries typed Faulkner’s early work and he personally paid for the fne press publication of The Marble Faun, Faulkner’s frst book. In turn, Faulkner would dedicate the three books of the Snopes Trilogy to Stone, and base characters on both Stone and his family. The lawyer Gavin Stevens, a major character in Intruder in the Dust and Knight’s Gambit, was based upon him. The present copy is from the frst Modern Library edition. Octavo (176 x 115). Original cloth (some soiling); dust jacket (lower cover panel separated, some wear to extremities); in a custom slipcase. Provenance: Philip Avery Stone (1893-1967; inscription).