J O N K E R S R A R E B O O K S
wrapper lettered in white, complete with original wraparound band. A fine copy in a fine dustwrapper, which is crisp and bright with just trivi- al wear to the corners and base of the spine but exceptionally has an unfaded spine. A superb copy. $2,250 One of the harder of Greene’s novels to find in fine condition due to its fragile post war paper stock and fugitive red colouring.
35. GRAVES, Robert THE TREASURE BOX Privately Printed at the Chiswick Press, [1919] [46555] First edition. Original blue hand-sewn paper wrappers. Author’s presentation copy, inscribed to fellow poet, “Ivor Gurney from Robert Graves”. Title page design and one other line drawing by Nancy Nicholson. Spine worn and neatly repaired, corners worn and lightly frayed, a very good copy. $5,300 An excellent association copy of Graves’ first collection of poetry to be published after demobilisation, inscribed to fellow war poet Ivor Gurney who would also set several of Graves’ poems from The Treasure Box to music. Gurney was an English poet and composer from Gloucester who’s stud- ies at the Royal College of Music were cut short by the outbreak of war. During the war he was twice wounded in action, secondly with gas that led to the worsening of his manic depression, for which he was institu- tionalised in 1922. Graves met Gurney in the Gloucestershire regiment, and they fought alongside each other in the trenches during battles in- cluding the Somme. In civilian life, they mixed in the same literary circles and exchanged a sporadic correspondence, until Gurney’s death from tuberculoses in 1937. These letters included discussions of their personal struggles adjusting to life after the war and the development and publi- cation of their creative endeavours. ‘Sorry that the reviewers think Graves cannot write; for he is a poet and I am not.’ 23 May 1918, Gurney, Collected Letters, p. 428. The Treasure Box is Graves’ third work, privately printed in an edition of 200 copies, none of which were for sale. 36. GREENE, Graham THE HEART OF THE MATTER Heine- mann, 1948 [46485] First edition. Original blue cloth with silver titles, in red dust-
37. HAMMETT, Dashiell RED HARVEST New York: Knopf, 1929 [41791] First edition. Original red cloth decorated in yellow and black in rare first issue pictorial dustwrapper, with the plot summary to the rear panel. A fine copy in a fine dustwrapper, which is crisp and vibrant with just the most trivial wear to the head of the spine and a couple of short closed tears. An exceptional copy. $135,000 The author’s landmark first book, with the earliest issue of the dust jacket with the plot summary on the rear panel. The earliest issue is so rare that
Richard Layman describes only a later issue with reviews from The Bookman, The Outlook, and The Chicago Post. Red Harvest, originally published in Black Mask from November 1927 to February 1928, is acclaimed as the foundational text in the hardboiled detective genre, giving a darker cynical twist to the clas- sic great detective figure exempli - fied by Sherlock Holmes. Drawing from his personal experiences as an operative with the Pinkerton De- tective Agency, Hammett portrays a seedy, violent milieu inhabited by gangsters, corrupt cops, and flawed detectives. André Gide called Red Harvest “a remarka- ble achievement, the last word in atrocity, cynicism, and horror.”
18
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker