[Bloomsbury] A Passage to India by FORSTER, E[dward] M[organ]., 1879-1970 - 1924

London: Edward Arnold, 1924. First Edition. Cloth. Near Fine. First Printing (with 1924 to title page and no further dates or printings on copyright page) of Forster's final, and best, novel. 8vo: [4],5-325,[3,advertisements]pp, without half-title (as issued). Publisher's vertically ribbed wine-red cloth, spine and upper board lettered in black; without the scarce dust jacket. Light to moderate sporadic foxing, else firmly bound and clean and bright throughout, a collectible example. Kirkpatrick A10a. Connolly (Modern Movement) 45. Time 100. Modern Library 100, 25. Passage to India (the title comes from a poem by Walt Whitman) gestated during a ten-year period that spanned the First World War, Gandhi's return to India from South Africa and the start of his civil disobedience campaign, the First Government of India Act, an upsurge in Indian Nationalist feeling, British promises of Independence, and the massacre at Amritsar. "Mindful of the imponderables of human conduct, alert to all the reciprocal misjudgments and the wearying false appraisals we make as a matter of course, [Forster] looked at empire and saw its weak foundations. . . . In his other great novel, Howard's End, Forster directed us to 'only connect.' What he demonstrates here, in a story of the greatest and saddest subtleties — and comic subtleties, too — is how nearly impossible that is to do." (Time 100) N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).