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The Well of Loneliness : UK 1st Edition / 1st Impression in Original dustwrapper
by Radclyffe HALL [With a commentary by Havelock ELLIS]
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good/Good-
- Seller
-
Husbands Bosworth, Leicestershire, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
UK true 1st Edition / 1st Printing with uncorrected 'whip' on line 13, page 50. Very Good condition, with ownership name/date to front endpaper. Leading edges rough cut, as issued. In near Good original dustwrapper which is not price-clipped (Published price 15s). The wrapper has loss to the lower spine affecting most of the publisher's details, closed tears (with archival tape and paper repairs mainly to folds / spine head and tail), and browning/soiling.
Radclyffe Hall was well known in London literary circles and had already been published to some acclaim by Jonathan Cape. However, in August 1928 the Home Secretary (a Christian fundamentalist) was persuaded that the author's new book 'The Well of loneliness' was profane. He banned the book from sale. The publishers Jonathan Cape made secret arrangements with a French publisher, 'Pegasus Press', for the book to be sold in France. But on 3 October 1928 a warrant was issued for Customs and Excise to seize and destroy the books crossing the channel. A high-profile obscenity trial (partly resulting from a campaign led by James Douglas, editor of the 'Sunday Express', who wrote 'I would rather give a healthy boy or a healthy girl a phial of prussic acid than this novel') followed on 9 November 1928 and found that that all books were to be destroyed. A subsequent appeal (which did not involve analysis of the text as the Director of Public Prosecutions refused to release copies) upheld the decision following a deliberation of only five minutes. The book did not appear again in England until the Falcon Press edition of 1949. Havelock Ellis, the sex psychologist, who wrote the appreciation wrote ' (the book) possesses 'a notable psychological and sociological significance,' and should be placed 'on a high level of distinction.' (from flap blurb). Uncommon and much more so in the dust wrapper.
Radclyffe Hall was well known in London literary circles and had already been published to some acclaim by Jonathan Cape. However, in August 1928 the Home Secretary (a Christian fundamentalist) was persuaded that the author's new book 'The Well of loneliness' was profane. He banned the book from sale. The publishers Jonathan Cape made secret arrangements with a French publisher, 'Pegasus Press', for the book to be sold in France. But on 3 October 1928 a warrant was issued for Customs and Excise to seize and destroy the books crossing the channel. A high-profile obscenity trial (partly resulting from a campaign led by James Douglas, editor of the 'Sunday Express', who wrote 'I would rather give a healthy boy or a healthy girl a phial of prussic acid than this novel') followed on 9 November 1928 and found that that all books were to be destroyed. A subsequent appeal (which did not involve analysis of the text as the Director of Public Prosecutions refused to release copies) upheld the decision following a deliberation of only five minutes. The book did not appear again in England until the Falcon Press edition of 1949. Havelock Ellis, the sex psychologist, who wrote the appreciation wrote ' (the book) possesses 'a notable psychological and sociological significance,' and should be placed 'on a high level of distinction.' (from flap blurb). Uncommon and much more so in the dust wrapper.
Synopsis
The Well of Loneliness is a 1928 lesbian novel by the English author Radclyffe Hall. It follows the life of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family whose "sexual inversion" (that is, homosexuality) is apparent from an early age. She finds love with Mary Llewellyn, whom she meets while serving as an ambulance driver in World War I, but their happiness together is marred by social isolation and rejection, which Hall depicts as having a debilitating effect on inverts.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Itchen Books
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 896
- Title
- The Well of Loneliness : UK 1st Edition / 1st Impression in Original dustwrapper
- Author
- Radclyffe HALL [With a commentary by Havelock ELLIS]
- Format/Binding
- Black cloth-covered boards with gilt titles to the spine. Top edge of text-block stained black and fore-edge of text-block untri
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Good-
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- 1st Edition / 1st Printing
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Jonathan Cape
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1928
- Pages
- 512
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
Terms of Sale
Itchen 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. Refund issued on receipt of returned item.
About the Seller
Itchen Books
Biblio member since 2019
Husbands Bosworth, Leicestershire
About Itchen Books
20th Century first editions with some older items. Specialist areas of interest include Russian literature, Irish literature.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- 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...
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- 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...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- 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....
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