The Firedrake

New York: Atheneum, 1966. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/near fine. First printing, large octavo size, 253 pp., signed by Cecelia Holland. Cecelia Holland (b. 1943) has written, to date, over twenty historical novels (of which this was the first published, although the fourth written) which span both the globe and time. In addition, she has authored a multitude of other fictional series, as well as short stories, children's books, and non-fiction. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1981-1982.

This work, "The Firedrake", was the first of her historical novels to be published and follows the travels of Laeghaire, an Irish mercenary knight, who is reluctantly present at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Note that we have several other volumes of Holland's historical fiction, many of them signed; if you are searching for a particular title, please do let us know.

___DESCRIPTION: Bound in quarter green cloth with grey paper-covered boards, the title blind-debossed on the front board, gilt lettering stamped onto the spine, top edge stained red, red endpapers, signed by the author (with her name only, no inscription) on the title page in red ink; large octavo size (9 1/2" by 5 1/2"), pagination: [i-viii] [1-3] 4-243, [1, blank] [1, author bio]. Dust jacket with wrap-around illustration of a section of The Bayeux Tapestry, review blurb (in the form of a letter to the publisher) on the front flap, summary of book on the back flap which continues on the back panel, black-and-white photo of the author and short bio also on the back panel.

___CONDITION: Volume fine, with clean boards, straight corners without rubbing, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, and entirely free of prior owner markings; clean, crisp, and as new. The dust jacket near fine, clean and with only a light amount of edgewear, note that the jacket has been price-clipped.

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