SASSOON, Siegfried (1886-1967)

Memoirs of an Infantry Officer [with important bibliographic significance]

London: Faber and Faber, 1930. First Impression. Hardcover. First Trade Edition of the second installment in Sassoon's lightly fictionalized autobiographical trilogy. 8vo: 334,[2]pp. Publisher's French blue cloth, spine lettered in gold, top edge stained pink, fore-edge rough-trimmed; pale yellow typographic dust jacket printed in blue and priced 7s/6d. Loosely laid in is a letter on Faber and Faber stationary, replying to a question asking why some copies of the first edition have uncut [rough-cut] page edges and others do not {Keynes describes the edges as "trimmed."]. "As a matter of fact, it was the author's wish that some part of the first edition should be produced with uncut edges and some 3,000 odd were published in this manner. However, as far as we are concerned there is no difference at all between the cut and uncut edges; both issues were printed simultaneously, the only difference being when the sheets reached the binder's cutting room." According to Keynes, 20,000 copies of the first trade edition were printed, of which (we now know from the testimony of the letter laid into this copy) only 3,000 copies were "uncut," making that issue by far the rarer of the two. An excellent example, with important bibliographic significance, Fine, square and tight (only lightly read, if at all); pages fresh, bright and unmarked; about Fine jacket, lightly dust-soiled, with several flecks of brown ink to back panel. First Impression of the third and final installment in the author's lightly fictionalized autobiography. A near fine copy. Some bumping to the spine tips and a couple of short nicks. A well preserved copy.Keynes A33a. Bibliotheca Bibliographici 3709. Falls, pp. 306-07. Fine / Fine-. Item #BB1673

In the late 1920s, "Sassoon turned to the prose sequence that was to occupy him for nearly two decades: the well-received Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man was followed by two sequels, Memoirs of an Infantry Officer (1930) and Sherston’s Progress (1936), to form a trilogy published as The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston (1937). In these books, the central 'Sherston' character is a semi-fictionalised version of the young Sassoon up to 1917, from which family life ('Sherston' has no mother or brothers), education, and poetic ambition are excised." (Literary Encyclopedia) N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, with dust jackets carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).

Price: $499.00