"Beloved" by Vina Delmar, published by Harcourt Brace, New York, 1956. Stated First Edition.

Marbled brown-orange hard boards, 1/3 blue cloth [some soiling & wear, scotch stains on boards: see photos]; 5.1/2" x 8.1/4"; 382 pages, some soiling—mostly a few first pages, residue from the removed label on the back endpaper, good condition.

Historical novel about the life of 19th-century American Jewish politician Judah Philip Benjamin, who became a Secretary of State in Confederate President Jefferson Davis' cabinet.

A romance about Benjamin's very unorthodox love and marriage with Natalie, who was Catholic and from a wealthy French Creole family.

"Soundly researched story of Judah Benjamin, one of the world's great lawyers, and assuredly the most important figure in the political history of the Confederacy... Benjamin never swerved in his whole-hearted, often compassionate and always understanding, worship of Natalie. With the secession of Louisiana, Benjamin resigned from the Senate and was appointed to Davis' Cabinet, where he served in various roles throughout the war. Mrs. Delmar's handling of this phase of Benjamin's life deserves particular commendation. For the first time- in this reader's experience- Benjamin emerges as a man who has taken the buffets of abuse despite the fact that the disasters for which he was blamed belong firmly on the doorstep of President Davis. Benjamin grows in stature, in warmth of his human relations, in breadth of vision, in generosity. An absorbing story.." [from a review]

Judah Philip Benjamin, QC (1811-1884) was an American lawyer and politician. He was a United States senator from Louisiana, a Cabinet officer of the Confederate States and, after his escape to the United Kingdom at the end of the American Civil War, an English barrister. Benjamin was the first Jew to hold a Cabinet position in North America and the first to be elected to the United States Senate who had not renounced his faith.

Vina Delmar (1903-1990) was an American short story writer, novelist, playwright, and screenwriter who worked from the 1920s to the 1970s. She rose to fame in the late 1920s with the publication of her suggestively titled novel, Bad Girl, which became a bestseller in 1928. Delmar also wrote the screenplay to the screwball comedy, The Awful Truth, for which she received an Academy Award nomination in 1937.

US: Priority (c.2-4 days) ------------ $14.50
Canada: Priority (c.2-6 weeks) ----- $32.50
World: Priority (c.2-8 weeks) ------ $48.50