Vintage original "Photoplay Edition" hardback book with dust jacket from the 1920's Christian-themed silent film drama, THE KING OF KINGS, released in 1927 by Pathé Exchange and directed by Cecil B. DeMille.
 
Published in New York by Grosset & Dunlap in 1927 to coincide with the original US theatrical release of the film, the story was co-written by Jeanie Macpherson and Henry MacMahon. The front cover features artwork depicting Christ (H.B. Warner) with his mother, Mary (Dorothy Cumming) and the disciple Peter (Ernest Torrence) kneeling in front of him which wraps around to the back cover as Mary Magdalene (Jacquelilne Logan) looks reverently at Jesus. The book is illustrated with various full-page photographs of scenes from the film. It was inscribed in black ink by the film's screenwriter, Jeanie Macpherson, thusly: "To - My dear, dear friend - Mr. William Barton - who has my sincere love - and great admiration - Jeanie Macpherson - April 20th 1927 - New York." 
 
It is in near-fine condition with some separation along the interior spine along the front cover. The binding is tight and there are no tears or missing pages. The dust jacket (protected in a clear cover) is complete with chips and small tears of various sizes along the bottom and on the top of the spine. There are lighter signs of wear along the top edges and a 1.5 in. horizontal tear on the top of the back cover. 
 
*"Abbie Jean MacPherson (May 18, 1886 – August 26, 1946) was an American silent actress, writer and director. MacPherson worked as a theater and film actress before becoming a screenwriter for Cecil B. DeMille. She was a pioneer for women in the film industry. She worked with D. W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille, two of the foremost filmmakers of the time.
 
She made her film debut in 1908 with a short film, The Fatal Hour, directed by D. W. Griffith. For the next year, she acted in many controversial roles in which she portrayed ethnicities other than her own. MacPherson had dark hair, so she was often cast in Romani or Spanish roles. From 1908 to 1917, she amassed 146 acting credits. She saw her time with Griffith as her "first glimmer of the possibilities in the new industry [and] from those days on [she had] seen a variety of attitudes toward the scriptwriters."
 
After Griffith, she went to the Universal Company and became a leading lady. She got her first significant opportunity in 1913, when she wrote, directed and starred in The Tarantula (1913). She played the role of a Spanish-Mexican girl, known as the tarantula, who would infatuate men, get bored with them and kill them with a bite. With this film, she became the youngest director in motion picture history. The Tarantula was her first and last experience as a director. She continued at the Universal Company for two years until her health caused her to break from the company.
 
Upon her recovery, she found herself at Lasky Studios; however, she quickly sought out Cecil B. DeMille to see if she could act in his films. He told her, "I am not interested in star MacPherson, but I am in writer MacPherson"; from that point on, she focused on writing. DeMille and MacPherson formed one of the industry's most influential and long-lasting partnerships. She penned 30 of DeMille's next 34 films. Some of their most notable works are Rose of the Rancho (1914) with Bessie Barriscale, The Girl of the Golden West with Mabel Van Buren, The Cheat (1915) with Sessue Hayakawa, The Golden Chance (1915) with Wallace Reid, Joan the Woman (1916) with Geraldine Farrar, A Romance of the Redwoods (1917) with Mary Pickford, The Little American again with Pickford, and The Woman God Forgot (1917) again with Farrar.
 
In 1921, MacPherson told a reporter, "I shall always be grateful for Mr. DeMille's assistance. He is a hard taskmaster, and he demands that a thing shall be perfect... It was hard, but it taught me that anything worth doing at all was worth doing perfectly." She believed that the motion picture owed its psychology to D. W. Griffith and its dramatic picture scenario construction to DeMille. In 1927, she was one of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences founding members."
*(source: Wikipedia)
 
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