Jewel Merchants: A Comedy in One Act

James Branch Cabell (1879-1958) was an American author of fantasy fiction and belles-lettres. Cabell was well-regarded by his contemporaries, including H. L. Mencken, Edmund Wilson, and Sinclair Lewis. His works were considered escapist and fit well in the culture of the 1920s, when they were most popular.

His 1921 play, The Jewel Merchants is set in early sixteenth-century Tuscany and explores the moral lassitude and selective ethics of a coterie of businessmen. It's a thoroughly entertaining look at a past culture that is sure to tickle readers' funny bones.

New York; Robert M. McBride & Company, 1921. Limited edition, no. 589 of 1,040. Brown cloth with gilt decoration on cover; spine lettering faded; endpapers tanned; deckled edges; binding tight; text clean. G+