War, Invasion & Spy
London, John Lehmann, 1950.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
Set during the Dunkirk evacuation, the novel follows Sergeant Julien Maillat and a small group of French soldiers stranded on the beach, unable to be evacuated with the British forces. It won the 1949 Prix Goncourt, France's most prestigious literary prize.
Modern Literature
Translated by Norman Cameron...and the original French text...
London, John Lehmann, 1949.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 15s.
Rimbaud's semi-autobiographical prose poem sequence, written at the age of 18-19 following the breakdown of his relationship with Verlaine. It constitutes a spiritual and artistic reckoning, a hallucinatory confession, rejection of his own poetic ambitions and farewell to literature. The Keith Vaughan lithographs provide the perfect accompaniment to the sequence, defining this edition as a significant illustrated book
War, Invasion & Spy
A novel
London, John Lehmann, 1947.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
Translated from the German by Stuart Hood. A chilling, dreamlike allegory of a peaceful pastoral society corrupted by the sinister "Head Forester," a thinly veiled embodiment of Nazi power and nihilism. First published in Germany in 1939, the work astonishingly escaped an immediate ban, likely owing to Jünger's status as a war hero and the subtlety of its critique (though it faced censorship in 1942). Notable for its early and unsettling prefiguration of the death camps, the narrative depicts a "factory of death" where perfect order masks spiritual annihilation.
American Literature
London, John Lehmann, 1950.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
Recently widowed American actress Karen Stone moves to Rome to find solace. As she navigates her grief and the challenges of aging, she becomes entangled with a young Italian gigolo, leading to a complex exploration of love, loneliness and self-discovery.
Modern Literature
Translated by Stuart Hood
London, John Lehmann, 1949.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth spine inset with silver and red. Dust-jacket, priced 9s6d.
Originally titled Tempo di uccidere, this novel is set in Ethiopia during Italy's 1930s invasion, exploring an Italian officer's moral descent. It won Italy's prestigious Strega Prize in 1947.
Modern Literature
London, John Lehmann, 1951.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 10s6d.
The second novel by the author of the novella Cheerful Weather for the Wedding.
Modern Literature
London, John Lehmann, 1951.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket, with publisher's promotional belly-band.
The second novel by the author of the novella Cheerful Weather for the Wedding.