On this day in 1951 J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye was published. Reviews were mixed, but having been pre-selected by the Book of the Month Club, the novel was immediately popular. Rare book dealers regard a good, signed copy of the first edition -- this is the one with the dust-jacket picture of a quixotic, carousel horse -- as "one of the most elusive of 20th century books." The only rare book dealer recently offering one for sale (somewhat damaged, $35,000) says that the last signed edition for sale, about fifteen years ago, was inscribed by Salinger to Harold Ross of The New Yorker ... FULL STORY »
