JOHN MASEFIELD
by SPARK, Muriel:
- Used
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
York, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Peter Nevill. 1953. First edition, first printing. First edition, first printing. Inscribed presentation copy. Original fawn cloth lettered in green to the spine, in the dustwrapper designed by Weissenborn. A near fine copy, the binding square and firm, the contents clean throughout. Light spotting to the fore-edge of the page block, and offsetting to endpapers. Softening to spine tips, the upper tip with a tiny nick. In the dustwrapper, rubbed to edges and folds with a handful of nicks and closed tears. Darkened to the spine, lightly spotted to the rear panel, and with a few light marks to the front panel. Not price-clipped (15s. net to the front panel). Scarce signed. Inscribed by the author in blue ink to the front free endpaper, "To Father Moorhouse / with best wishes / from / Muriel Spark / July 1953". We have been unable to identify the recipient, but the inscription notably coincides with Spark's conversion to Catholicism (joining, along with Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh, what Martin Stannard refers to as the "grand triumvirate of Catholic-convert novelists"). In her autobiography Spark recounts that "In 1953 I was absorbed by the theological writings of John Henry Newman through whose influence I finally became a Roman Catholic. [...] On 1 May 1954 I was received into the Church at Ealing Priory." Stannard notes that the book on Masefield, completed in 1952, "was the last book Muriel wrote as an agnostic". An admirer of Masefield since attending a reading with her friend Frances Niven while attending Gillespie's School in Edinburgh, two decades on, in 1950 (soon after completing her study of Mary Shelley) she contacted Masefield, who agreed to her writing the book, which (according to Stannard) "offers a priceless insight into her intellectual life at this moment of transition." (Muriel Spark, 'Curriculum Vitae' [London, 1992]; Martin Stannard, 'Muriel Spark: The Biography' [London, 2009]; Tominaga 1331) Further details and images for any of the items listed are available on request. Lucius Books welcomes direct contact with our customers.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Lucius Books (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 22084
- Title
- JOHN MASEFIELD
- Author
- SPARK, Muriel:
- Book Condition
- Used
- Edition
- First edition, first printing
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- London: Peter Nevill. 1953
Terms of Sale
Lucius Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Lucius Books
Biblio member since 2015
York, North Yorkshire
About Lucius Books
Our shop is located in central York within a stones throw of the historic Micklegate Bar and walls. We are open seven days a week and carry a high quality stock specialising in but not limited to first editions, signed copies, bound sets and childrens / illustrated books and original art. Our opening times are 10am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and 11am to 4pm on Sundays.Lucius Books is proud to be a full member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association (ABA) and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) trade associations. If you are unable to make it to the shop then our stock is available to view on our website at www.luciusbooks.com
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Dustwrapper
- Also known as book jacket, dust cover, or dust wrapper, a dust jacket is a protective and decorative cover for a book that is...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Inscribed
- When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....