{"title":"Modern First Editions","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"farmer-philip-jose-the-image-of-the-beast-an-exorcism-ritual-i-1968-3375","title":"The Image of the Beast. An Exorcism Ritual I","description":"\u003cbr\u003eNorth Hollywood, California Essex House. 1968.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. 170x108mm. pp. 255. Original paperback, pictorial card cover with postscript by Theodore Sturgeon. Very good condition with a little light rubbing to covers. Internally fine. Described on the front cover as a \"remarkable adult novel\", The Image of the Beast is an extraordinary book combining the surreal, the erotic, and the grotesque to create a genre described as \"biosexopsychic science-fiction\".\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":"FARMER, Philip José","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":31487381995631,"sku":"3375","price":50.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/products\/20200429_155100_resized_19c32204-4f79-44dd-b34d-1ef4b39b7be6.jpg?v=1588173232"},{"product_id":"bukowski-charles-ham-on-rye-1982-4229","title":"Ham on Rye","description":"\u003cbr\u003eSanta Barbara: Black Sparrow Press. 1982.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSIGNED WITH AN ORIGINAL PAINTING\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eLimited edition number of 67\/100, signed by Bukowski and with an original oil painting by Bukowski on a blank preliminary. 228x150mm. pp. 283 [5]. Half blue cloth, illustrated paper covered boards, protected by original acetate wrapper. In very good condition throughout. The painting is of a human head in profile. Owing something to cubism (in its structure), Mondrian  (in its colour) and Gaudier-Brzeska (in its monumentality), this is a striking work in thickly applied oils. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eHam on Rye\u003c\/em\u003e is widely regarded as among Bukowski's finest works. A semi-autobiographical novel which deals with family and societal dysfunction and the decline of the American dream. \"A whole god-damned nation of assholes driving automobiles, eating, having babies, doing everything in the worst way possible, like voting for a presidential candidate who reminded them most of themselves\". However redemption and solace can be found, Bukowski assures us, in great literature. A comforting thought. \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":"BUKOWSKI, Charles","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43429855920319,"sku":"4229","price":3250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/20240510_124131_inPixio.jpg?v=1718121287"},{"product_id":"gray-alasdair-lanark-a-life-in-4-books-1985-4332","title":"Lanark. A Life in 4 Books","description":"\u003cbr\u003eEdinburgh: Canongate Publishing. 1985.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSIGNED LIMITED \"DEFINITIVE\" EDITION\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eLimited edition, signed by Alasdair Gray and numbered 603\/1000. 233x155mm. pp. [6], 560, [2]. Original black cloth lettered in gilt \"Endure You are not alone\" on the boards and with the title, author and imprint on the spine. Original illustrated dust jacket. Slight fading to jacket but otherwise in immaculate condition throughout. A beautiful copy of what is regarded as the \"definitive\" edition of Gray experimental, dystopian masterpiece. \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":"GRAY, Alasdair","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53474988884345,"sku":"4332","price":225.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4332.Lanark_1.jpg?v=1727874822"},{"product_id":"bradbury-ray-fahrenheit-451-1953-4955","title":"Fahrenheit 451","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNew York: Ballantine Books Inc.. 1953.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003eNo false prophet\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst trade edition. 197x126mm. Pp. [6], 199 [3]. Red cloth, lettered in yellow to upper cover and spine. Original illustrated dustjacket. Some chipping and creasing to the edges of the jacket but otherwise in very good condition and internally excellent. Jacket is Currey's state D (no priority). Front free endpaper has a gift inscription dated October 22, 1953 \"To Don – With the hope that we can prove Ray Bradbury as false prophet! Polly\".\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003e \u003cbr\u003eOne of the great dystopian novels, Fahrenheit 451 was born out of Bradbury's novella The Fireman which itself borrowed elements from two short stories, Bright Phoenix and The Pedestrian. Famously, the title page explains that 451 is the fahrenheit \"temperature at which book-paper catches fire and burns…\" Although it was the Nazi book-burnings that provided the most obvious inspiration for the novel which describes an America where books are banned and destroyed, Bradbury confessed to numerous motivations. McCarthyism was undoubtedly an influence but the spectre of mass media and television and its effect on reading habits also lay behind the book as, Bradbury later made clear, did political and social thought control and restrictions on freedom of speech. Sadly, Bradbury was no false prophet.\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":"BRADBURY, Ray","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193328116089,"sku":"4955","price":5000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4955_1.jpg?v=1777655286"},{"product_id":"camus-albert-the-outsider-1946-4902","title":"The Outsider.","description":"Translated from the French by Stuart Gilbert. Introduction by Cyril Connolly.\u003cbr\u003eLondon: Hamish Hamilton. 1946.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition in English. 8vo. 185x120mm. pp. [iv], 3-103 [1]. Grey cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Original dustjacket illustrated by Edward Bawden. Bumping to head and foot of spine. Repair to top and bottom edges of dustjacket and two closed tears to top edge and slight chipping to bottom edge of rear of dustjacket but otherwise in very good condition and internally excellent. It is not common in a good jacket. Camus's concise, dense, absurdist novel of alienation first appeared in 1942. Stuart Gilbert's English translation was meant to published with the title \u003cem\u003eThe Stranger\u003c\/em\u003e but, as a Polish novel had recently been translated with this title, Hamish Hamilton changed it to \u003cem\u003eThe Outsider \u003c\/em\u003ewhich captures rather better the psychological darkness of the novel.\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":"CAMUS, Albert","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193329459577,"sku":"4902","price":1250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4902_1.jpg?v=1777655301"},{"product_id":"crowley-aleister-the-diary-of-a-drug-fiend-1923-4934","title":"The Diary of a Drug Fiend","description":"\u003cbr\u003eNew York: E.P.Dutton \u0026amp; Company. 1923.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003eFirst US edition in the scarce dustjacket\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst US edition. 8vo. 185x125mm. pp. [8], 368. Black cloth, lettered in red to upper cover and spine. Original dustjacket. Repaired closed tear to fold of dust jacket at spine and upper cover and small tears at the fold with the flap on the lower cover. Chipping and creasing to edges of jacket including head and foot of spine but overall in very good condition particularly given that it is hard to find the jacket at all (only one copy of the first US edition with the jacket appears in the auction records). Internally very good. \u003cbr\u003eCrowley described this highly autobiographical novel as \"a true story. It has been rewritten only so far as was necessary to conceal personalities\". The novel treats of two of Crowley's favourite subjects, drug use and the occult. It describes the descent of Sir Peter Pendragon and his wife Louise into heroin and cocaine addiction and their eventual cure and redemption following their stay at the Abbey of Thelema in Sicily. Here, under the guidance of Basil King Lamus (a thinly disguised Crowley), they are initiated into the occult, discover their True Will and are freed from the chains of addiction. \u003cem\u003eThe Diary of a Drug Fiend\u003c\/em\u003e enjoyed an early succès de scandale principally due to its unsparing account of drug use and abuse but Crowley's real purpose was to show how his particular strain of magic and the occult could transform even the most difficult lives.\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":"CROWLEY, Aleister","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193329557881,"sku":"4934","price":5500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4934_1.jpg?v=1777655314"},{"product_id":"golding-louis-magnolia-street-1932-4907","title":"Magnolia Street","description":"\u003cbr\u003eLondon: Victor Gollancz Ltd.. 1932.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003eInscribed by the author to Dennis Wheatley.\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eInscribed to Dennis Wheatley and with Wheatley's bookplate. First edition. 195x120mm. pp. 607 [1bl]. Black cloth, lettered in gilt to spine. Original dust jacket, lettered in black and with removable red band indicating \"The Book Society's \"first\" recommendation for January\". Some minor chipping to head of spine of dust jacket and some creasing and a closed tear to top edge and spine a little faded. Internally very good with slight foxing to fore-edges. Overall an excellent copy in the rare dust-jacket and the even rarer band. \u003cbr\u003eFront pastedown has the demonic bookplate of Dennis Wheatley and the front free endpaper is inscribed \"For Dennis Wheatley. This tale is a little humbler than most of his. with the admiration of Louis Golding. London. August 31. 1937\".\u003cbr\u003eLouis Golding (1895-1958) was always something of an outsider. Born into an Orthodox Jewish household in Manchester, he began writing at an early age. Often ill, he travelled widely in warm countries particularly in north Africa and the middle east and his writing from these worlds drew on his Jewish inheritance. \u003cem\u003eMagnolia Street\u003c\/em\u003e is his most celebrated work. Set in Manchester (which Golding calls \"Doomington\"), the novel describes the relationships between Jews and Gentiles. A contemporary review described it as \"a magnificent achievement: copious, humorous, romantic, tragic, genial, ironical, angry, wise; alive with action in every part, and crammed with the rich stuff of humanity\". Magnolia Street was enormously successful, translated into twenty-seven languages and banned by Hitler and Mussolini. This would have pleased him for he was an unrepentant and enthusiastic anti-fascist which perhaps led Orwell to include Golding as one his \"Crypto-communists and fellow travellers\". Although it is \"the larger drama of the Jewish people\" that forms the backdrop to most of Golding's writing other novels deal with themes of black magic and crime and he also wrote on boxing, food and James Joyce. He is due a revival.\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":"GOLDING, Louis","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193329688953,"sku":"4907","price":1750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4907_1.jpg?v=1777655328"},{"product_id":"gordon-john-the-giant-under-the-snow-1968-4947","title":"The Giant under the Snow.","description":"\u003cbr\u003eLondon: Hutchinson Junior Books. 1968.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. 184x120mm. pp. 184. Grey cloth, spine lettered in red. Original illustrated dustjacket. Apart from some light shelfwear and a little foxing to the edges, this is in excellent condition throughout. \u003cem\u003eThe Giant under the Snow\u003c\/em\u003e was John Gordon's first novel and established him as a striking new voice in children's supernatural fiction. It concerns mystery dogs, lost treasure and epic battles between good and evil. Gordon moved to East Anglia from County Durham as a child and the strange flat land of the Fens and its strong sense of folkloric tradition was an important influence on his writing from the very start.\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":"GORDON, John","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193329754489,"sku":"4947","price":350.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4947_1_892dc7e3-c51b-427b-9d6e-2e82907c7646.jpg?v=1777656818"},{"product_id":"gregory-h-b-dark-sanctuary-1940-4949","title":"Dark Sanctuary","description":"\u003cbr\u003eLondon: Rider \u0026amp; Co.. [1940].\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003e\"one of the great novels of supernatural horror\"\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. 182x115mm. pp. 288. Blue cloth, lettered in gilt to spine. Original illustrated mauve dustjacket. Rubbing and slight chipping to edges of the jacket, marking and slight soiling to spine and lower cover of jacket. Internally very good but the text block is a little cocked and there is some spotting in places and slight soiling to the edges. Overall a very good copy of what is widely regarded as one of the great novels of supernatural horror and an important successor to the work of H.P. Lovecraft and Bram Stoker. Indeed, it was the inclusion of Dark Sanctuary in Karl Edward Wagner's 1983 \"13 Best Supernatural Horror Novels\" that revived interest in Gregory and this extraordinary novel which weaves, around the plot, much occult arcana. \u003cbr\u003eMost of the copies of the first edition of \u003cem\u003eDark Sanctuary \u003c\/em\u003ewere destroyed in an air raid during the Blitz and it is said that only twelve made it into circulation. We suspect that a few more may have survived but the book is undoubtedly rare, and the original dustjacket is almost unfindable. OCLC records it in only six libraries with Library Hub adding the BL and only one copy appears in the auction records.\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":"GREGORY, H.B","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193330213241,"sku":"4949","price":6000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4949_1.jpg?v=1777655370"},{"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":"lovecraft-h-p-the-haunter-of-the-dark-and-other-tales-of-horror-1951-4959","title":"The Haunter of the Dark and Other Tales of Horror.","description":"\u003cbr\u003eLondon: Victor Gollancz Ltd. 1951.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003eWho is Lovecraft? H.P.Lovecraft's first appearance in the UK.\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst UK edition. 8vo. 183x120mm. pp. [4], 5-303 [1bl]. Orange cloth, original yellow Gollancz jacket. Some fading to edges of boards. Chipping to edges of jacket and at head of spine and some soiling to spine and lower cover of jacket. Internally very good. A nice copy of the first collection of Lovecraft's work published outside America. This selection brings together ten of his best stories including \"The Rats in the Walls\" and \"The Call of Cthulhu\", the latter introducing Lovecraft's evil monster of that name and its fictional universe of malevolent forces ready to subsume the world. \u003cbr\u003eH.P.Lovecraft died, aged forty-seven, in 1937 having achieved little material success, his stories appearing in cheap pulp magazines and never published in book form. After his death however, his wildly imaginative fantasy stories gained a cult following in America but it wasn't until the early 1950s that they crossed the Atlantic when they were presented to an unsuspecting public in the form of this collection, hence the question on the front cover \"Who is Lovecraft?\" and the useful introduction by his protégé August Derleth.\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":"LOVECRAFT, H.P","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193330573689,"sku":"4959","price":250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4959_1.jpg?v=1777655441"},{"product_id":"mitford-nancy-the-blessing-1951-4950","title":"The Blessing.","description":"\u003cbr\u003eLondon: Hamish Hamilton.. 1951.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003ePresentation copy with inscription to Alvilde Lees-Milne.\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. Presentation copy with inscription to Alvilde Lees-Milne. 183x120mm. pp. 270. Red cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Illustrated dustjacket (supplied from another copy). Extremities bumped and lower board a little stained and cockled. Tears, with some loss, to head and foot of spine of jacket and slight chipping to edges at the flaps. Internally, there is some foxing, heavier to the half title and title page. Dedication page is inscribed \"Alvilde with love from Nancy\" and there is the ownership inscription of Alvilde on the front free endpaper. Overall a nice copy. Alvilde (née Bridges) Chaplin (from 1933 to 1951) and Lees-Milne (from 1951 to her death in 1994) was a garden historian and designer. She and James Lees-Milne moved easily in the world where aristocracy and literature meet. While at Eton, James had been a lover of Nancy Mitford's brother Tom which gives this nice presentation copy a little extra spice.\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":"MITFORD, Nancy","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193330639225,"sku":"4950","price":950.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4950_1.jpg?v=1777655455"},{"product_id":"macvicar-angus-space-agent-from-the-lost-planet-1961-5132","title":"Space Agent from the Lost Planet","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLondon: Burke Publishing Co. Ltd. 1961.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. 183x120mm. pp. 158. Green cloth, lettered in black to the spine. Original illustrated dustjacket. Slight creasing and two closed tears to head of jacket and rubbing to foot of spine of jacket but otherwise a very good copy of the sixth of MacVicar's \u003cem\u003eLost Planet \u003c\/em\u003eseries. Written for children and originally created for the radio, the series is a clever weaving together of science fiction, pacifism and Christian ethics.\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":"MacVICAR, Angus","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193333555577,"sku":"5132","price":150.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/5132_1.jpg?v=1777655469"},{"product_id":"naughton-bill-alfie-1966-4957","title":"Alfie","description":"\u003cbr\u003e[London]: Macgibbon \u0026amp; Kee.. 1966.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003eInscribed by Naughton to the critic John Russell Taylor.\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition of the novel taken from the 1963 stage play, itself adapted from a radio play. 196x127mm. pp. [8], 9-208. Brown cloth, original illustrated dustjacket. Some rubbing to extremities of jacket and a small mark on upper cover but otherwise in excellent condition throughout. Front free endpaper is inscribed \"To John Russell Taylor with good wishes from Bill Naughton. 13th Feb 66\". Loosely inserted is a letter to Russell Taylor (also dated 13th February 1966) from Naughton's wife Erna: \"Here is the book I promised to post to you. I told my husband that you won't read it till you have seen the film\". The film was, of course, the ground-breaking and now classic picture starring Michael Caine. Also loosely inserted is a letter from a firm of London estate agents inviting Russell Taylor to have his flat valued and suggesting that it might be worth £1.1m. Which would have solved some of Alfie's problems. \u003cbr\u003eBeneath a chirpy, cocksure exterior, Alfie the character and \u003cem\u003eAlfie\u003c\/em\u003e the play\/novel\/film is dark and uncomfortable. It deals with infidelity, abortion, mental breakdown and transgresses the class barriers which, at the beginning of the 1960s were still in place, but by the end, had started to dissolve, in no small part thanks to works such as this. The association with John Russell Taylor is an important one. Taylor was one of the most important and perceptive film, theatre and art critics of the late twentieth century as well as a biographer of many of the leading figures of the film world, including Hitchcock, Ingrid Bergman and Orson Welles. He also wrote extensively on \"Angry Theatre\", that genre of \"Kitchen Sink Drama\" kickstarted by John Osborne and of which Bill Naughton's \u003cem\u003eAlfie, \u003c\/em\u003ewith its portrayal of working-class disaffection, is a close cousin.\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":"NAUGHTON, Bill","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193335390585,"sku":"4957","price":850.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4957_1.jpg?v=1777655482"},{"product_id":"portis-charles-true-grit-1968-4945","title":"True Grit","description":"\u003cbr\u003eNew York: Simon and Schuster. 1968.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition, first printing. 195x125mm. pp. 215 [1bl]. Blue cloth. Original illustrated dustjacket. Spine of jacket has some fading and a repaired closed tear and there is some light foxing to lower cover. Internally excellent, this is a very good copy of one of the great American novels.\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":"PORTIS, Charles","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193337225593,"sku":"4945","price":350.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4945_1.jpg?v=1777655540"},{"product_id":"shearing-joseph-margaret-bowen-the-fetch-1942-5118","title":"The Fetch","description":"\u003cbr\u003eLondon: Hutchinson and Co.. 1942.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003eRare supernatural crime\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. 184x130mm. pp. 184. Pale blue cloth, lettered in red. Original illustrated dustjacket. Top and bottom edges of jacket a little chipped and two small closed tears to foot of jacket. Internally very good but with some toning to the edges. Overall a very good copy. Rare (Worldcat recording ten copies) and especially so in the dustjacket.\u003cbr\u003eMargaret Long wrote under seven pseudonyms, principally as Marjorie Bowen. As Joseph Shearing she wrote crime mysteries, based on true stories overlaid with the supernatural. The Fetch is set in 1870 England and concerns a young aristocrat's obsession with the murder of a girl committed by one of his forebears. Unsurprisingly, this causes the girl's spectral double (her \"fetch\") to be stirred up and the novel charts the hero's descent into madness and the thwarting of the romantic plans of his fiancée Adelaide Fenton.\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":"SHEARING, Joseph. [Margaret Bowen]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193337487737,"sku":"5118","price":2250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/5118_1.jpg?v=1777655594"},{"product_id":"smith-dodie-i-capture-the-castle-1949-4948","title":"I Capture the Castle.","description":"\u003cbr\u003eLondon: William Heinemann Ltd.. 1949.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003e\"sitting in the kitchen sink\"\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. 182x120mm. pp. [4], 338. Illustrated with engravings by Ruth Steed from drawings by Dodie Smith herself. Blue cloth decorated and lettered in gilt. Fading to spine and to edges of boards. Illustrated dustjacket (supplied from another copy) with some creasing, chipping and closed tears. Internally, there is foxing, heavier in one or two places but overall a very good copy of an ever-popular comedy-romance-coming of age novel written \"sitting in the kitchen sink\".\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":"SMITH, Dodie","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193338372473,"sku":"4948","price":550.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4948_1.jpg?v=1777656863"}],"url":"https:\/\/voewoodrarebooks.com\/collections\/modern-first-editions.oembed","provider":"Voewood Rare Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}