Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
March, Joseph Moncure. The Set-UP. Covici Friede, 1928.
Price: US$22.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Green cloth Cover shows picture of boxer Cover has some wear and is slightly cocked. Interior clean. Pictures on request
Seller: Old Village Books, Mt. Pleasant, SC, U.S.A.
Joseph Moncure March. The Set-Up. Covici Friede, New York, 1928.
Price: US$24.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 184 pages ; 24 cm. An early fictional account in verse of an African American boxer. This copy with toned end papers, but otherwise nearly fine.
Seller: Cambridge Books, Cambridge, MN, U.S.A.
Joseph Moncure March. The Set-up. Covici Friede, 1928.
Price: US$25.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Hardbound, no dust jacket. 4th printing. The previous owner's inscription on the front fixed end page, minor wear to board edges, some age toning to pages, otherwise very good.
Seller: Black Cat Books, Shelter Island, NY, U.S.A.
March, Joseph Moncure (1899-1977). THE SET-UP.. New York: Covici Friede, 1928., 1928.
Price: US$35.00 + shipping
Description: Hardcover - 6th printing (just one month after the first) A story in verse, set in the seamy and brutal boxing underworld, of an an aging Black boxer and ex-con, Pansy Jones, who is supposed to throw a fight, but when he realizes he has double-crossed by his manager, he revolts and wins the fight, only to be chased to a grisly end. "Pansy had the stuff, but his skin was brown; And he never got a chance at the middleweight crown." An immediate bestseller when it was first published (as is shown by the many printings in 1928) this was also the basis of the award winning 1949 Robert Wise noir film (in fact, this book was dedicated to Sue Wise) although the impact of the film was weakened by removing the racial element and making the boxer - played by Robert Ryan - white. 184 pp. Good only in illustrated yellow cloth (wear to edges and corners, some loss at top of spine and a short tear to the side of spine, but contents are clean, binding is straight and sturdy)
Seller: Bookfever, IOBA (Volk & Iiams), Ione, CA, U.S.A.
March, Joseph Moncure. The Set-Up. Covici Friede, New York, 1928.
Price: US$39.95 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Spine sunned, spine head frayed, light cock, tone, owner's bookplate, otherwise light wear. Solid hardcover. ; March's gripping, hard-boiled, narrative poem of an African-American boxer's tragedy. A best-seller, First Edition, Fifth Printing, in the same year as the first. ; 184 pages
Seller: Mike's Library LLC, Plymouth, PA, U.S.A.
March, Joseph Moncure. The Set-up. Covici Friede, New York, 1928.
Price: US$40.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Spine ends worn.
Seller: By Books Alone, Woodstock, NY, U.S.A.
March, Joseph Moncure. The Set-up. Covici-Friede, New York, 1928.
Price: US$60.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: New York: Covici-Friede, 1928. March (1899-1971) had an early career at "The New Yorker" magazine, then worked as a screenwriter. This epic poem about an ageing African-American boxer was the basis for the 1949 film directed by Robert Wise (the book is dedicated to Sue Wise). Many books have been made into films but Quercus believes few of them were from poetry! The film eliminated the racial issues, and March himself rewrote it 4 decades later to purge it of anti-Semitism. This is a Very Good copy of a Later Printing (the 5th) of the First Trade Edition (there is a signed and limited edition as well). Interestingly, it took only two months to go to 5 printings. Yellow cloth binding with chocolate-brown stylized figure of the boxer. Clean text; 184 pages. Light bumping; very mild soil. Lacking the dustjacket. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Later Printing. Hard Cover. Very Good/No Jacket.
Seller: Quercus Rare Books, Chico, CA, U.S.A.
March, Joseph Moncure. The Set-Up. Covici & Friede - New York, 1928.
Price: US$95.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First trade edition, 4th printing, as stated. Grey cloth on boards with dramatic black boxer on cover and black titling on spine. Top edge stained black. Book is tight, square and free of markings or flaws, other than prior owners signature on FFEP along with date - "George Pottle? 12, December 1929." The author had a career at the "The New Yorker" and worked as a screenwriter before writing this epic poem/novel about an African-American prize fighter named Pansy Jones who gets "set-up" for a loss with a younger boxer. Heavy on the race relations, the book was made into an important 1949 film noir directed by Robert Wise and starring Robert Wise and Audrey Totter. The book was very popular resulting in many subsequent printings, this 4th printing came out just a few months after the 1st printing, stated as October, 1928 on copyright page. While the film had the same dramatic and ominus mood as the poem, it literally and figuratively white-washed out the deep racial issues that the book discussed. March rewrote the screenplay years after the movie premiered.
Seller: Barberry Lane Booksellers, Bar Harbor, ME, U.S.A.
Joseph Moncure March. The Set Up. Covici Friede, New York, 1928.
Price: US$200.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: a good to fair copy, with a damping on the spine oatmeal grass cloth, the batik boards are fine, the book had seen some wavy dampness, quite old now, the rest is fine. no rare dj. The illustrations from King are fine and book could use a mylar dust jacket, else very good. the original spine label is fine this book was limited to only 275 copies signed by the author, J. M. Marsh. signed to MS Patterson and is the basis and inspiration for the famous film noir, The Set Up, starring Robert Ryan and Audrey Trotter. ca. 1948 and directed by Robert Wise. Robert Ryan was Ivy League and Intercollegiate heavyweight champ at Dartmouth back in 1929. However, the protagonist of this Set Up is an Afro american fighter. in the form of a narrative poem. A Classic.
Seller: Hirschfeld Galleries, Saint Louis, MO, U.S.A.
March, Joseph Moncure. The Set-up. Covici Friede, New York, 1928.
Price: US$275.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Dust jacket with tears and chips at edges and tears at flap folds.
Seller: By Books Alone, Woodstock, NY, U.S.A.
March, Joseph Moncure (1899-1977). THE SET-UP.. New York: Covici Friede, (1928), 1928.
Price: US$350.00 + shipping
Description: SIGNED hardcover first edition - Limited, signed first edition. A story in verse, set in the seamy and brutal boxing underworld, of an an aging Black boxer and ex-con, Pansy Jones, who is supposed to throw a fight, but when he realizes he has double-crossed by his manager, he revolts and wins the fight, only to be chased to a grisly end. "Pansy had the stuff, but his skin was brown; And he never got a chance at the middleweight crown." An immediate bestseller when it was first published this was also the basis of the award winning 1949 Robert Wise noir film (in fact, this book was dedicated to Sue Wise) although the impact of the film was weakened by removing the racial element and making the boxer - played by Robert Ryan - white. This limited edition, #119 of only 275 copies, is numbered and SIGNED by the author is illustrated by Alexander King. 184 pp. Very good overall in red and black decorative paper covered boards with a beige cloth spine, paper label on spine - a bit of wear to the edges of the boards, inscription on first blank page, but a tight and sturdy copy.
Seller: Bookfever, IOBA (Volk & Iiams), Ione, CA, U.S.A.
March, Joseph Moncure. The Set-up. Covici-Friede, New York, 1928.
Price: US$400.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Near-fine with a touch of shelf wear, otherwise bright and clean inside and out. In a very good plus dust jacket ($2.00 price intact) with minor wear at the corners and a repaired closed tear at the top of the spine. An excellent copy of this scarce title.
Seller: Magus Books of Sacramento, Sacramento, CA, U.S.A.
March, Joseph Moncure. The Set-Up [Signed]. Covici Friede, NY, 1928.
Price: US$450.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Signed, limited edition of this quintessential Jazz Age narrative poem by an early New Yorker editor and author of another of the era's signature poems, The Wild Party (1926). Written in terse rhyming couplets, The Set-Up concerns an aging Black boxer, Pansy Jones, who is coerced into throwing a fight against a lesser opponent. Double-crossed by his manager, Jones revolts and wins the fight, only to be chased to his presumed death on the New York subway tracks. March was reportedly inspired to write the poem after a viewing of Negro Boxer, a 1927 painting by James Chapin. The Set-Up became a best- seller on publication, going through numerous early printings, and was later adapted into the 1949 Robert Wise film noir of the same name, although Wise chose to eliminate the poem’s racial commentary by making the main character white. This limited first edition, handsomely illustrated by Alexander King, is signed and hand-numbered by March on a limitation page at front. First edition. Limited to 275 signed and hand-numbered copies, of which this is No. 156. Octavo (6.5 x 10 in.); 184pp.; patterned paper boards backed with tan cloth; paper spine label printed in red. About near fine, with mild bumping to the top corners and moderate shelfwear resulting in some splitting and loss of paper at the tips and along the bottoms of the boards. Previous owner's bookplate on front pastedown. Lacking the original publisher’s slipcase.
Seller: Dividing Line Books, Ridgewood, NY, U.S.A.
March, Joseph Moncure. The Set-Up. Covici Friede, New York, 1928.
Price: US$450.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Tall 8vo., 184pp, Sharp First Trade Edition of this classic poem about an African American boxer, made into the 1949 Film Noir of the same title starring Robert Ryan. Also published in a signed limited edition. Square, tight and clean throughout with some fairly mild page edge toning. A touch of softness at the spine ends but quite minor. Solid unclipped dust-jacket, ($2.00), has a few chips to top edges and toning to edges and spine. Still solid and complete with no tears or creases. An attractive collectable copy at a great price.
Seller: Brenner's Collectable Books ABAA, IOBA, Manasquan, NJ, U.S.A.
MARCH, Joseph Moncure. THE SET-UP [SIGNED]. Covici Friede, New York, 1928.
Price: US$595.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: FIRST LIMITED EDITION of 275 copies. This is No. 161/275. Signed by Joseph Moncure March on the limitation page. Original tan linen cloth backstrip over bright red, black and yellow art-deco style patterned paper boards. Yellow printed paper spine label and yellow endpapers. With the illustrations of Alexander King. Fine, very bright and fresh copy. No name, bookplate or other markings. Housed in a worn publisher's slipcase. By the author of The Wild Party. Scarce in the limited printing. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall
Seller: RON RAMSWICK BOOKS, IOBA, CARLSBAD, CA, U.S.A.
MARCH, JOSEPH MONCURE. The Set-Up. Covici, Friede, New York, 1928.
Price: US$753.93 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 8vo. Black lettered grey cloth with the image of a prize fighter on the front panel. This is duplicated on the dust jacket. This is a long poem about an African American prize fighter that was made into a significant film noir movie starring Robert Ryan and Audrey Trotter and directed by the great Robert Wise in 1949. Coincidentally the book is dedicated to Sue Wise (no relation) This trade edition was issued simultaneously with the limited edition which ironically seems to have survived in greater numbers. Edgewear to extremities of book and dj with just a little shallow chipping at corners. A beautiful copy.
Seller: Karol Krysik Books ABAC/ILAB, IOBA, PBFA, Toronto, ON, Canada
MARCH, Joseph Moncure.. The Set-Up.. New York: Covici Friede, 1928, 1928.
Price: US$1090.35 + shipping
Description: Signed limited edition, number 91 of 275 copies signed by the author, illustrated by Alexander King, and bound in quarter cloth. March's story of an African-American prize fighter, perhaps inspired by the real-life example of Jack Johnson, is an acute portrayal of race relations during the Roaring Twenties. A trade edition was also published in 1928. The 1949 film noir adaptation, directed by Robert Wise and starring Robert Ryan and Audrey Totter, controversially changed the protaganist to a white man and moved away from the poem's tragic ending. "The sense of bleak poetry, however. remains intact" (Field). Amanda J. Field, Sucker Punch: Boxing Films of the 1930s, 40s and 50s, 2023. Octavo. Original decorative boards, brown cloth backstrip, spine label lettered in red, yellow endpapers, edges untrimmed. Frontispiece and 3 similar plates all by Alexander King. A little staining on spine, boards bright, plates fresh, a few gatherings unopened, closed tears to title page and next leaf, losses at head of p. 156 (just touching text) and final blank: a very good copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Joseph Moncure March. The Set-Up. Covici Friede, 1928.
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: Fine copy in near fine jacket first Edition.$2.00 on flap.Small loss at Crown & Heel of jacket.Epic Poem on Boxing.Very Scarce.
Seller: Jeff Bergman Books ABAA, ILAB, Flemington, NJ, U.S.A.