Greene, Graham

8vo (193 x 129mm.), FIRST EDITION, one of approximately 300 copies, PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR ("A book of juvenilia which I | prefer to forget | Graham Greene") on the front endpaper, original grey paper-covered boards printed in blue, dust-jacket, collector's green cloth chemise and quarter green morocco slipcase, slight offsetting to endpapers, minor wear and slight sunning to jacket

Mrs Charles W. Engelhard (her library, Christie's New York, 27 October 1995, lot 54)

Wobbe A1

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Graham Greene's scarce first book, with a presentation inscription reflecting the author's lifetime attitude towards his early poetic efforts. "Greene spent much of his time and energy on poetry, which he contributed to the student magazine Oxford Outlook and to the Weekly Westminster Gazette. His verse also appeared in three successive volumes of the prestigious annual Oxford Poetry. In 1925, his last year at university, Basil Blackwell published his short collection Babbling April. The book attracted so many bad notices, however, that a disappointed Greene abruptly surrendered his ambition to be a poet." (Michael Shelden, Oxford DNB)