The Cords of Vanity (1920) is a comic romance novel by James Branch
Cabell. Set in a world where history and fantasy collide, where the laws
of chivalry and honor continue to hold sway in postbellum South, The
Cords of Vanity is included in a series of novels, essays, and poems
known as the Biography of the Life of Manuel. A man of honor and
tradition, Robert Townsend comes from a prominent family whose wealth
and power once depended on its ownership of slaves. Raised in a
fast-changing world, in which the old agrarian way of life is being
replaced in response to growing industrialization, Robert spends much of
his time weaving tall tales. In dreams only, he lives up to the ideals
of his ancestors, for whom honor was the most important thing of all.
Set in a fictionalized version of Richmond, The Cords of Vanity is a
captivating, hilarious tale of chivalry and romance inspired by the
author's experiences as a young man raised in a family of Southern
aristocrats. Originally written in 1909, before Cabell found success and
infamy with the publication of Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice (1919), the
novel is a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a young writer hungry
for critical acclaim. Cabell's work has long been described as escapist,
his novels and stories derided as fantastic and obsessive recreations of
a world lost long ago. To read The Cords of Vanity, however, is to
understand that the issues therein--the struggle for power, the unspoken
distance between men and women--were vastly important not only at the
time of its publication, but in our own, divisive world. With a
beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this
edition of James Branch Cabell's The Cords of Vanity is a classic of
fantasy and romance reimagined for modern readers.
