Signed First Edition 

Harold MacGrath "The Retreat From Utopia"

FIRST FILM SCREENPLAY WRITER 

[SIGNED OFFPRINT] Garden City, NY: Printed at the Country Life Press, 1926. Small softcover in titled wraps, stapled binding. Measures 7.5 x 5 inches; 28 pages. First separate printing of this early cinema related screenplay, made into film in the year of publication. Possible advance proof - an offprint from The American Mercury having a statement mentioning a design drawn by Edward A. Wilson, though none found here. Inscribed and signed by the author on cover. Some toning, soiling, chipping repaired tear, etc. to covers, else good overall condition. NOT EX-LIBRARY.

Harold MacGrath (September 4, 1871 – October 30, 1932) was a bestselling and prolific American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. He sometimes completed more than one novel per year for the mass market, covering romance, spies, mystery, and adventure.

He was the first nationally known writer to be commissioned to write original screenplays for the new film industry. In addition, he had eighteen novels and three short stories adapted as films, in some cases more than once. Three of these novels were also adapted as plays that were produced on Broadway in New York City. MacGrath traveled extensively but was always based in Syracuse, New York, where he was born and raised.