{"title":"20th Century Literature","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"hesse-hermann-das-glasperlenspiel-1943-4472","title":"Das Glasperlenspiel","description":"\u003cbr\u003eZürich: Fretz \u0026amp; Wasmuth. 1943.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInscribed by Hesse\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eInscribed by Hesse: \"Ein Gruss für Reinhard Weiss von H. Hesse\". Third edition (Drei Auflage), issued the same year as the first.  Two volumes. 8vo. 182x108mm. pp. 451, [1]; 441, [1]. Original pale blue cloth with HH monogram in gilt to upper covers and spine decorated in gilt with black label lettered in gilt. Original dust jackets. Spines of dustjackets browned and a little soiled with slight chipping to the foot of the jacket of volume one. Housed in a cardboard slipcase. A very nice copy. Hesse was not profligate with his inscriptions and this is an important book on which to find his signature. Rejected for publication in Germany because of the Hesse's opposition to the National Socialist regime \u003cem\u003eDas Glasperlenspiel\u003c\/em\u003e was Hesse's last full length novel. It is a complex utopian meditation on education, learning, psychology the relationship between intellectuals and society. Three years after its publication, Hesse was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.  \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_note\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_prov\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_biblio\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"HESSE, Hermann","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54986913841529,"sku":"4472","price":950.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/20250228_114047.jpg?v=1740745638"},{"product_id":"crews-harry-karate-is-a-thing-of-the-spirit-1972-4596","title":"Karate Is a Thing of the Spirit.","description":"\u003cbr\u003eLondon: Secker \u0026amp; Warburg. 1972.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003eWondering what the hell's going on. \u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst UK edition. 197x125mm. pp. 218. Publisher's blue cloth with slight damage to spine. Original illustrated pop art dustjacket designed by Paul May in the manner of Roy Lichtenstein. Some slight rubbing to the extremities of the jacket, marking to the lower cover and creasing to the spine. Internally in excellent condition throughout. A rare book and an even rarer dustjacket. \u003cbr\u003eCrews learnt karate in order to write this book - a typically immersive act. But the book is only partly about karate. Rather it is a study of the dark spirit of America - \"an America obsessed with sex, violence, and violent, loveless sex. It also a book about a man's quest for faith and belief; and about being alive and wondering what the hell's going on\".\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_note\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_prov\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_biblio\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"CREWS, Harry","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57095861141881,"sku":"4596","price":250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4596.webp?v=1776542361"},{"product_id":"zangwill-edith-ayrton-the-call-1924-5135","title":"The Call","description":"\u003cbr\u003eLondon: George Allen \u0026amp; Unwin. 1924.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003eA rare suffragette novel.\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. 8vo. 182x120mm. pp. 378. Green cloth, lettered in red. Fading and slight soiling to spine and bumping to head and foot of spine. Edges toned and slight cracking to hinges. Ownership inscription on front free endpaper. Overall a very good copy of a scarce book, Worldcat recording eleven copies and no copies appearing in the auction records. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Call\u003c\/em\u003e is regarded as on of the most important suffrage and feminist novels. Drawing heavily on the life of her stepmother, the scientist Hertha Ayrton, Zangwill tells the story of a young chemist Ursula Winfield who, angered at the injustices faced by women, abandons her work to join the suffrage movement. As the war begins she returns to work where her development of a method of extinguishing liquid fire helps the war effort. Once more, she faces a struggle as she tries to persuade the military to use the invention. Edith Zangwill was an active (and activist) member of the Women's Social and Political Union and a founder of the Jewish League for Women's Suffrage. She acutely felt the difficulties faced by women both politically and professionally and this novel is her loud call for equality. Largely ignored through the twentieth century, \u003cem\u003eThe Call \u003c\/em\u003ehas recently been revived in a scholarly edition published by Bloomsbury and an attractive Persephone Books edition.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_note\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_prov\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_biblio\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"ZANGWILL, Edith Ayrton","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57099509334393,"sku":"5135","price":3500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/5135_1.jpg?v=1777655176"},{"product_id":"kundera-milan-the-unbearable-lightness-of-being-1984-4810","title":"The Unbearable Lightness of Being.","description":"\u003cbr\u003eNew York: Harper Row. 1984.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eSigned by Kundera on the title page. First US edition and the first edition in English translation. 219x138mm. pp. [6], 314. Publishers black paper covered boards, and tan cloth, spine lettered in black. Original dustjacket. Very light shelfwear but otherwise a fine, near mint copy of one of the great philosophical novels of the late twentieth century.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_note\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_prov\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_biblio\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"KUNDERA, Milan","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193330246009,"sku":"4810","price":1250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4810_1.jpg?v=1777655384"},{"product_id":"ka-tzetnik-135633-tr-moshe-m-kohn-house-of-dolls-1956-4942","title":"House of Dolls","description":"\u003cbr\u003eLondon: Frederick Muller Ltd.. 1956.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition, first impression. 196x126mm. pp. 240. Red cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Original illustrated dustjacket. Some creasing to edges of jacket and slight chipping to foot of spine but otherwise in excellent condition and internally near fine. \u003cem\u003eHouse of Dolls\u003c\/em\u003e ran to several printings in year of publication but this first impression, particularly in the dustjacket, is rare in commmerce.\u003cbr\u003eKa-Tsetnik 135633 is the pseudonym of Yehiel De-Nur who survived two years in Auschwitz. Ka-Tsetnik is Yiddish concentration camp slang for a prisoner and 135633 was his camp number. \u003cem\u003eHouse of Dolls\u003c\/em\u003e is a lightly fictionalised novel based on the diaries of a young girl taken from her school in Poland in 1939 and forced into a Nazi labour camp and then into a brothel (a Joy Division) established for German armed forces. It is a graphic, violent and disturbing novel and a key work in Holocaust literature and is sometimes regarded as the inspiration behind the short-lived and controversial \"Stalag fiction\" genre.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_note\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_prov\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_biblio\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"Ka-Tzetnik 135633 (tr. Moshe M. Kohn)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193330311545,"sku":"4942","price":395.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4942_1.jpg?v=1777655397"},{"product_id":"north-w-the-city-of-the-jugglers-or-free-trade-in-souls-1850-4943","title":"The City of the Jugglers; or, Free-Trade in Souls.","description":"A Romance of the \"Golden\" Age.\u003cbr\u003eLondon: H.J.Gibbs.. 1850.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003e\"Soul exchange\"\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. 199x120mm. pp. xii, 250 [2bl, 5 publisher's adverts, 1bl]. Frontispiece and three etchings by F.H.T.Bellew. Modern brown cloth, slight rubbing to extremities. Frontispiece is a little chipped along fore-edge and all plates are a little foxed and there is offsetting from them. Some other light foxing and marking elsewhere but otherwise a very good copy of a rare book, only two appearing in the auction records in the last century and OCLC locating only ten copies.\u003cbr\u003eThis 1850 edition was, it seems, the only edition of this strange novel until the University of South Carolina Press reprinted it, with no doubt unintended irony, in the 2008, the year of the great financial crash. \u003cem\u003eThe City of the Jugglers\u003c\/em\u003e is a satire on the stock market frenzies of the 1840 and describes how, following a financial crash, there develops a futures market in human souls. A strange fantasy on the relation between mammon and the spirit. Incidentally, the frontispiece contains a portrait of the author asleep and dreaming of this \"soul exchange\". This is thought to be the only portrait of one of the most elusive of Victorian writers.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_note\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_prov\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_biblio\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"NORTH, W","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193335554425,"sku":"4943","price":1250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4943_1.jpg?v=1777655498"},{"product_id":"plaatje-sol-t-mhudi-an-epic-of-south-african-native-life-a-hundred-years-ago-1930-5130","title":"Mhudi. An Epic of South African Native Life a Hundred Years Ago.","description":"\u003cbr\u003eLovedale, South Africa: Lovedale Press.. [1930].\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003eThe first novel in English by a black South African. In the rare dust jacket.\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. 8vo. 185x120mm. pp. [12], 225 [1bl]. Green cloth, lettered in gilt to upper cover and spine. Original illustrated dustjacked, chipped and a little torn along top and bottom edges but overall very good and rare in any condition. Internally there is some foxing. An excellent copy, in the scarce dustjacket, of an important work of African fiction and one of the earliest attempts by an African writer to give an account of pre-colonial Africa and the first novel in English by a black South African. \u003cbr\u003eSol Plaatje (1876-1932) took his name from the Boer family who employed his family on their farm. A brilliant student, Plaatje mastered seven languages, including Dutch and English which gave him the right to vote although this would be taken away when the new Union of South Africa was created. Throughout his life, Plaatje was a leading figure in the struggle for black liberation and was a founder member and first General Secretary of what would become the ANC. Plaatje wrote Mhudi in 1919 although it would take him eleven years to get it published. During this long gestation, the book was revised and altered, some critics suggesting that it went through a process of censorship and bowdlerization. Whether or not that is so is a matter of scholarly dispute but what is not in doubt is that this novel, now firmly established in the African canon, represents a brave and early attempt to preserve and regenerate native South African tradition in the face of colonialism.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_note\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_prov\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_biblio\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"PLAATJE, Sol. T","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193336766841,"sku":"5130","price":2500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/5130_1.jpg?v=1777655524"},{"product_id":"rive-richard-writing-black-1981-5133","title":"Writing Black","description":"\u003cbr\u003eCape Town: David Philip. 1981.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003eSigned by Rive.\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. 210x145mm. pp. [8], [8 photographs], [2], 221 [1bl]. Signed by Richard Rive on the title page. Red cloth, lettered in gilt to spine. Original dustjacket with photograph of Rive on upper cover. Slight soiling and light shelfwear to dustjacket but otherwise a near fine copy of Rive's \"rumbustious, always perceptive autobiography\" which was developed and expanded from his ground-breaking key-note speech at the University of Indiana's African Literature Association conference in 1979. Rive was something of a prodigy and few people have done more to give a voice to African writers.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_note\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_prov\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_biblio\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"RIVE, Richard","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193337422201,"sku":"5133","price":150.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/5133_1.jpg?v=1777655566"},{"product_id":"stoker-bram-draculas-guest-and-other-weird-stories-1914-4935","title":"Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories","description":"\u003cbr\u003eLondon: George Routledge \u0026amp; Sons, Ltd. 1914.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003ethe first appearance of a new Dracula story\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. 8vo. 182x120mm. pp. [8], 200. Red cloth, decorated and lettered in blind on upper cover. Spine lettered and decorated in gilt and blind. Illustrated dustjacket in a later state with the price of 1\/3net replaced with 2\/- but in all other regards the jacket is the same as that of the first impression with its chilling illustration by Handforth. There is a split to the cloth at the joint with the lower cover and some fading to spine. The jacket is chipped at head and foot of spine and there is some creasing to top edge and chipping at the head and foot of the folds with the flaps. Internally there is a some foxing and marking but overall a very good copy in the rare and striking dustjacket.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eDracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories\u003c\/em\u003e was published two years after Stoker's death. As his widow Florence explains in the preface, Stoker had, at his death, three collections of short stories planned for publication. This was one of them although Florence did add to this set the long title story which she describes as \"an hitherto unpublished episode from \"Dracula\"...originally excised owing to the length of the book\". She hopes that the story \"may prove of interest to the many readers of what is considered to be my husband's most remarkable work\". This is thus the first appearance of this additional Dracula story.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_note\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_prov\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_biblio\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"STOKER, Bram","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193338405241,"sku":"4935","price":6500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4935_1.jpg?v=1777655651"},{"product_id":"5233","title":"The Boy Friend","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLondon Andre Deutsch Limited. 1955.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. Signed. 222x143mm. pp.(iibl) x,126, (iibl). Publisher's blue cloth, gilt lettering on spine. Original dust jacket. Illustrated throughout; illustrations on front and back pastedown and free endpapers. One minor tear and chip to head of dust jacket. Internally excellent; overall in excellent condition. Sandy Wilson's signature in blue ink on front half-title.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBeautiful, signed copy of the script for Sandy Wilson's smash hit musical, with Wilson's own charming illustrations. A pastiche of generic musicals from the 1920s, The Boy Friend is a delightful divertissement with catchy musical numbers. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_note\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_prov\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_biblio\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WILSON, Sandy","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":63755994333561,"sku":"5233","price":175.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/TheBoyFriendfrontcover.jpg?v=1781358173"},{"product_id":"the-secret-pilgrim","title":"The Secret Pilgrim","description":"\u003cp\u003eNew York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1991. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst U.S. edition. Signed by le Carré on title page. 240x165mm. pp.[8], 335 [3]. Publisher’s black cloth, gold lettering to spine and front cover. Original dust jacket. Light fading to head of boards, corners slightly bumped. Internally excellent, overall in very good condition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs intelligence agent Ned approaches retirement, he looks back over his career in the field. Ethical disquiet is increasingly at the forefront of his mind and mentor George Smiley can only offer uncomfortable truths. A gripping thriller from a writer at the peak of his powers. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"LE CARRÉ, John","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":63844734239097,"sku":null,"price":175.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/TheSecretPilgrimfrontcover.jpg?v=1782563065"},{"product_id":"our-game","title":"Our Game","description":"\u003cp\u003eFirst U.S. edition. Le Carré’s signature on title page. 243x170mm. pp. [8] 4-302 [7]. Publisher’s black cloth with gold lettering to spine. Original dust jacket. Fore edges untrimmed. Maps of North Asia printed onto front and back pastedown and free endpapers. In near mint condition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA lifelong rivalry pulls former British intelligence agent Tim Cranmer back into the game, putting the life he has built into jeopardy. A thrilling quest narrative from the absolute master of British spy fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"LE CARRÉ, John","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":63844795187577,"sku":null,"price":100.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/OurGamefrontcover.jpg?v=1782563412"},{"product_id":"5209","title":"Rivals","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLondon: Bantam Press. 1988.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003e\"the Ur-text of classy bonkbusters\"\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. 240x155mm. pp. 542. Publisher's original red cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Original illustrated dustjacket. Crease on red cloth of spine. Tanning on pages. In very good condition throughout.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003e \u003cbr\u003eA very good copy of the surprisingly, and reassuringly, scarce first edition of the second of Jilly Cooper's \u003cem\u003eRutshire Chronicles\u003c\/em\u003e.  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_note\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_prov\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_biblio\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COOPER, Jilly","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":63866949861753,"sku":"5209","price":90.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/Rivalsfrontcover.jpg?v=1782984853"}],"url":"https:\/\/voewoodrarebooks.com\/collections\/20th-century-literature.oembed","provider":"Voewood Rare Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}