copyright 1912 "Published January, 1912" stated on copyright page; Grosset & Dunlap publishers, New York; hardbound; good condition with unmarked pages except for neat previous owner's name inside; minor wear and fading of pages and boards - see pics; no dust jacket.
 
Description -
Riders of the Purple Sage is a Western novel by Zane Grey, first published by Harper & Brothers in 1912. Considered by scholars to have played a significant role in shaping the formula of the popular Western genre, the novel has been called "the most popular western novel of all time."
 
Plot -
The story about three main characters, Bern Venters, Jane Withersteen, and Jim Lassiter, who in various ways struggle with persecution from the local Mormon community ("Mormon" is the informal term for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), led by Bishop Dyer and Elder Tull, in the fictional town of Cottonwoods, Utah.
 
Jane Withersteen, a born-and-raised Mormon, provokes Elder Tull because she is attractive, wealthy, and befriends "Gentiles" (non-Mormons), namely, a little girl named Fay Larkin, a man she has hired named Bern Venters, and another hired man named Lassiter. Elder Tull, a polygamist with two wives already, wishes to have Jane for a third wife, along with her estate.
 
The story involves cattle-rustling, horse-theft, kidnapping and gunfights.