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51 FORSTER, E. M. – MORRIS, John. The Phoenix Cup. Some Notes on Japan in 1946. London: The Cresset Press, 1947 The dedication copy First edition, first impression, the dedication copy inscribed on the front free endpaper “for Morgan Forster. These notes, which are dedicated to him in gratitude for his friendship & encouragement. With homage and affection from John. January 1948”. This was the author’s second book, the first one being Traveller from Tokyo (1943) for which Forster had published a favourable review. This copy was later gifted by Forster to his friend Eric Fletcher, who had met him when he was an undergraduate at King’s College between 1945 and 1948. The 68-year-old Forster was, by then, firmly settled into Cambridge college life, living the life of a traditional bachelor don, “he was looked after; he was among friends; he knew the way of life and loved the city and it’s buildings . . . and at his age it was convenient” (Furbank, pp. 277–8), and modestly put up with his great fame, finding his enormous daily post a nuisance but enjoying a stream of visitors, many of them young men who looked on him as a mentor or sage. One of these young men was Eric Fletcher. They immediately struck up a warm friendship and embarked on a correspondence
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of “several hundred letters of gossip, affection and advice” (ibid.) which would continue until Forster’s death. Octavo. Original red cloth, spine and front board lettered in gilt. With dust jacket. Monochrome photographic frontispiece and 14 similar plates on 7 leaves. The binding sound, light spotting to edges, internally clean. A fresh copy in very good jacket, light toning to spine panel, slight wear and darkening to extremities, not price-clipped. ¶ P. N. Furbank, E. M. Forster: A Life , vol.2, 1978. £1,250 [149809] 52 GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ, Gabriel. Vivir para contarla. Mexico: Editorial Diana, October 2002 Inscribed to the dedicatee of Cien Años de Soledad First Mexican edition, first printing, a lovely presentation copy of García Márquez’s first, and only completed, volume of his autobiography, inscribed to his close friend the writer and actress María Luisa Elío Bernal (1926–2009), who was the dedicatee of Cien años de soledad . The inscription, on the dedication page, reads, “Por María Luisa otra vez, Gabriel 2002” (“For Maria Luisa, once again, Gabriel, 2002”). García Márquez was inspired to write this memoir after receiving a diagnosis of lymphoma in 1999. “I reduced my social activities to a minimum, disconnected the telephone, cancelled the trips and all sorts of current and future plans,” he told the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo , “and locked myself in to write every day without interruption”. But his energy flagged over the following years, then dementia clouded his mind. This first volume would be the only one he would complete. Octavo. Original wrappers. Sunning to spine, otherwise excellent condition. £1,500 [128476]
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ONLY CONNECT
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