THE WHITE PEACOCK

Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1966. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. D.H. Lawrence is certainly best-known for his erotic classic, "Lady Chatterly's Lover," but the British writer's first published novel is "The White Peacock," first published in 1911. It is written in the first person, narrated by a sensitive young man named Cyril Beardsall, who tells the story, set in the English countryside, of himself, his sister, Lettie, and their friends, George Saxton, and Leslie Tempest, who are both suitors for Lettie's hand. First printing, first edition thus. Issued in 1966 as the second work of "Crosscurrents/Modern Fiction by the Southern Illinois University Press. About 5 x 8 inches, 360 pages including preface by editor Harry T. Moore and a note on the text by Matthew J. Bruccoli. Green cloth-covered boards with gold lettering on spine. Dustjacket's front panel shows drawing of typical English, early-20th century,country town against green background with author in black lettering and title in white. Cloth at top end of spine has faded, o/w boards show only very minor surface wear. No bumped corners, no deep scraches. Top edge of text lightly soiled, with single small stain on fore edge, o/w text is clean, complete, and unmarked. Dustjacket shows light edge wear and light wear at corners and spine ends. O/w no creasing, tearing or scratching. Not price-clipped. A collectable copy of this edition of the Lawrence's debut novel, which, in a number of respects, foreshadows his later, much better-known work.