Sherard (Robert Harborough) Bernard Shaw – Frank Harris & Oscar Wilde
£125
London, Werner Laurie, 1937.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth, lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket, priced 18/-.
An interesting disputation of the book Oscar Wilde: his life and confessions (1916) penned by Frank Harris and championed by GBS, which Sherard goes to considerable length to assert was in fact chiefly a work of fiction.
In stock
Cloth slightly sunned at extremities; jacket dulled with some rubbing and minor chipping, but overall very good.
Related products
2 vols.
London, Heinemann, 1937-54.
First editions, first impressions. Second volume initialled presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jackets. Accompanied by a press/agency photographic print of Coward and two friends.
Noël Coward's two-volume autobiography, carrying his life-story up until 1945; the work was a considerable success. The second volume is inscribed & initialled on the title-page by the author to the actress Joyce Carey, 'For Doycie with love love love N':
"In his accustomed manner, Coward redubbed Carey 'Joycie' - or even, in moments of sheer baby-talk, 'Doycie'. The relationship was very old-fashioned, in one sense: Carey was the lady on his arm at premieres, providing the heterosexual bluff that was necessary then. But, more than that, she proved herself, professionally, a perfect interpreter of Coward's world. She first met him when her mother was appearing in The Vortex in 1924. The first night of the play left her 'literally shaking with excitement'. Her first part in a Coward play came with Easy Virtue in 1925, although she did not appear in another until Alison Leggatt fell ill during the run of Tonight at 8.30 in 1936. But Carey was best known for her roles in Coward's films: a touching death scene in In Which We Serve, and the barmaid with pretensions in Brief Encounter." (Independent Joyce Carey obituary, 1993)
The accompanying press/agency photograph is of Coward, accompanied by Joyce Carey and another close friend, Gladys Calthrop, leaving Buckingham Palace on 3rd February 1970 after being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. Mrs. Calthrop was a pre-war designer and artist who was associated with many of Coward's productions.
Comprehending an account of his studies and numerous works, in chronological order
London, By Henry Baldwin for Charles Dilly, 1791.
First edition, first issue (with "gve" on page 135 line 10 of volume I). 2 vols. 4to. Contemporary half calf, rebacked in later calf with some matching recornering.
Boswell's renowned, sometimes hagiographical portrayal of Dr Samuel Johnson, the great lexicographer, moralist, and wit of the 18th century. It is often considered one of the greatest biographies ever written in the English language.
Thriller Fiction
London, Werner Laurie, 1956.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.
London, Cassell, 1956.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
Slim was commander of the 14th Army, which, in concert with American and Chinese forces, defeated the Imperial Japanese Army during the Burma Campaign. This work is widely regarded as a classic memoir of high command.
with drawings by Low, Matt, Horrabin and others and a foreword by Oliver Baldwin.
London, Philip Allan, [1930].
First edition. 8vo. Original yellow boards. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.
Humorous reflections on the leading British politicians of the day, illustrated by the well-known caricaturists of the era.