First Love, Last Rites
First Love, Last Rites
£550.00
First Love, Last Rites
By Ian McEwan
First edition, first impression. Inscribed by the author to the title page: ‘To John best wishes Ian McEwan’. The author’s first book.
Original black cloth with lettering to spine in gilt. A fine book with a little faint dustiness to top edge, in a fine and unclipped dust jacket with only one very minor instance of wear to spine head. A brilliant copy.
1 in stock
First Love, Last Rites
By Ian McEwan
Inscribed First Ediiton
New
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The Winter of Our Discontent
First Edition, John Steinbeck, Modern First Editions
The Winter of Our Discontent
By John Steinbeck
First UK edition, first impression. The author's last novel, published in 1961.
Original dark purple cloth with lettering to spine in gilt. Slight bowing to boards with a previous owner name and date to front endpaper. A few peripheral spots to opening leaves and to edges.
The original and unclipped dust jacket shows a little edge wear with a couple of very small nicks and some spotting to verso. A very good example overall.
£50.00
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The Harry Palmer Books: Ipcress File, Horse Under Water, Funeral in Berlin, Billion Dollar Brain
Crime and Thriller, First Edition, Modern First Editions, Showcase, Signed First Editions
The Harry Palmer Books
By Len Deighton
Four Volumes. All first editions, first impressions, published between 1962-1966. Vol I is the correct first issue, without the reviews. Vol II contains the rare crossword competition insert (here blank). Volume I is inscribed by the author to the title page with the note from the author “there are not many copies of this edition!”
Orange, red, black and blue boards, consecutively; lettered in gilt to spines with publisher’s devices to foot; Vol II and III with classification stamp in colour and blind to upper board; Vol IV with white brail design to upper cover, and in the iconic silver dust jacket; all dust jackets unclipped, and designed by Raymond Hawkey; decorative endpapers in all but Vol I; the books generally very good to near-fine, clean, with some mild pushing to spine tips and marking to outer edges of the text block; small stain to p. 11 of Vol I; the wrappers with some darkening to edges and pushing to spine tips; a couple of small creases, nicks and closed tears; front flap of Vol II with paper flaw causing crease and particularly obscuring the price; Vol III a little more rubbed to spine ends, and faint spotting to inside flap; Vol IV a little more creased to the flaps, and lightly rubbed to rear panel.
Deighton’s pinnacle works, and the books which “challenged the nature of British spy fiction”. The series follows protagonist Harry Palmer through a variety of challenges and settings, which include Cold War brainwashing, atomic weapons tests, ice-melting technology, secret plots, murders, and eggs contaminated with a deadly virus.
Inspired by his experiences working for an advertising agency (when he was the only employee not to have been educated at Eton), Deighton wrote a novel based around a gritty, nameless, working-class protagonist who he later named Harry Palmer. The character proved hugely popular with the British public, the success of which the author (modestly) puts down to the fact that The Ipcress File was published in the same year as Fleming’s Dr. No. As well as this series, Palmer also featured in a series of later novels, including An Expensive Place to Die (1967) and Spy Story (1972). Of the present four books, Horse Under Water was the only one not to be adapted to film. The others all starred Michael Caine in the lead role.
Deighton famously avoids book signings, interviews and literary festivals, making signed copies of his works rare indeed.
£2,750.00
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A Town Like Alice
First Edition, Modern First Editions, Nevil Shute
A Town Like Alice
By Nevil Shute
First edition, first impression. A romance novel set in Australia and, briefly, in Malaya; published in 1950 soon after the author had settled in Australia. Adapted into a film and popular TV series in 1956 and 1981 respectively.
Original red cloth with lettering to spine in gilt and book title and author's monogram to upper cover in blind and publisher's imprint in blind to lower cover. Red top-stain. Some toning to edges and marginal, moderate browning to half-title. 'June' written in biro to front endpaper. Upper board ever-so-slightly bowed. Else a very good copy or better with the red top-stain nicely preserved and the contents nice and clean.
The original and unclipped dust jacket has several chips to spine ends and to upper panel with a few closed tears to edges, most notably to the top of lower panel. Some spotting to verso and, more faintly, to flaps.
£400.00
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The Spy Who Loved Me
First Edition, Ian Fleming, Modern First Editions
The Spy Who Loved Me
By Ian Fleming
First edition, first impression. The tenth book in the James Bond series.
Original black cloth with silver lettering to spine and a blind-stamped dagger to upper board with silver blade. A very good book indeed with some spotting to edges, in a very good price-clipped dust jacket with a couple of small nicks and one shallow chip to top edge and some spotting to verso. A very good copy.
£300.00
