Gershwin georges

05862 — Garden City New York: Doubleday & Company Inc. 1987. From the Gershwin Circle - An Advance Proof with Hollywood Reach<br /> A Pre-Publication Copy of the Definitive Gershwin Biography with Publisher's Appeal to Liza Minnelli<br /> <br /> GERSHWIN George. JABLONSKI Edward. Gershwin. Garden City New York: Doubleday & Company Inc. 1987.<br /> <br /> First edition. Advance Uncorrected Proof. Octavo 9 5/8 x 6 5/8 inches; 244 x 168 mm. 2 xviii 1-419 1 blank pp.<br /> <br /> Publisher's original pink wrappers front cover and spine lettered in black. A fine unusually well-preserved example.<br /> <br /> Loosely inserted is an original typed letter on Doubleday letterhead dated May 11 1987 signed by Harold Kuebler Senior Editor and addressed to:<br /> <br /> Liza Minnelli<br /> c/o Creative Management Associates<br /> New York<br /> The letter announces the forthcoming publication of Edward Jablonski's biography and solicits Minnelli's endorsement noting: Jablonski's nearly fifty-year engagement with the Gershwin circle; His correspondence with Ira Gershwin; Use of Gershwin Archives material interview tapes and unpublished photographs and the publisher's hope that Minnelli might provide a supporting quotation.<br /> Stamped "Received May 22 1987 Michael R. Black" indicating internal agency handling.<br /> <br /> An appealing and context-rich pre-publication artifact linking the scholarly authority of Edward Jablonski with the living performance tradition of Gershwin interpretation embodied by Liza Minnelli.<br /> <br /> Advance Uncorrected Proofs are by nature ephemeral - produced in small numbers for reviewers insiders and promotional outreach. What elevates this example is the surviving publisher's letter which captures a precise moment in the book's launch strategy: Doubleday actively seeking validation from leading performers closely associated with the American musical canon.<br /> <br /> Minnelli as daughter of Judy Garland and a major interpreter of the Great American Songbook represents exactly the sort of cultural authority the publisher hoped to enlist. The letter thus provides a fascinating window into the marketing and reception of Gershwin's legacy in the late twentieth century. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1987 unknown