A Separate Peace

by Knowles, John

Knowles drew on his own experiences at a New England boarding school in order to write this haunting story about the friendship between Gene and Finny. Effectively polar opposites and yet fiercely devoted to each other, Gene and Finny develop a rivalry that sustains each of them. Gene especially tries to emulate Finny's positive qualities to make himself better. But their friendship takes a dark turn as a result of a rash decision that Gene makes while the two are perched on a tree branch. The fallout and ensuing tragedy haunt Gene for the rest of his life. A Separate Peace is a stirring meditation on adolescence, masculinity, guilt, and friendship. 

Knowles's classic is an uneasy coming-of-age, set at a boys' boarding school among the desperately carefree 16-year-olds of 1942: too young, still, to be drafted into the war outside; too old to evade the responsibilities and the guilt that follows from the breaking of their fraught and fragile private bonds.

First Edition Identification

Secker & Warburg published the First UK Edition, First Printing hardcover in London, 1959. 

The Macmillan Company published the First US Edition, First Printing hardcover in New York, 1960. 

Other Collectible or Notable Editions

Collectors’ Reprint Inc published a First Edition Facsimile as part of the First Editions Library Collection in 1987. This edition was created to replicate the original First US printing, published in 1960. 

Scribner published a First Edition, Third Printing hardcover in New York, 1996.

Reviews

Review this book!

Available Copies

A Separate Peace
More Photos

A Separate Peace

by Knowles, John

Condition
Used - Near Fine in Very Good+ dust jacket
Edition
First Edition; First Printing
Published
1960
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Northridge, California, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$621.62

Show Details

Description:
New York: MacMillan. Near Fine in Very Good+ dust jacket. 1960. First Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. Pale blue/gray cloth. Stated first printing. Slight sunning to cloth extremities, trace softening/rubbing to spine ends and edges. Tight and unmarked. The 2nd issue DJ in mylar has minor sunning/wear/ soil, pencilled number to flap. Flap price $3.50.; 8vo 8"… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$621.62
A Separate Peace
More Photos

A Separate Peace

by Knowles, John

Condition
Used - Very nearly fine
Jacket Condition
Very good
Edition
First edition
Published
1959
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$598.33

Show Details

Description:
The author's first book, a coming-of-age novel set in a New England boy's boarding school at the beginning of WWII. Very nearly fine in blue buckram boards in a very good second-state p/c dw (the first state dw was scrapped because the author felt it portrayed the book as too juvenile) with some minor damp stains to the edges of… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$598.33
A SEPARATE PEACE
More Photos

A SEPARATE PEACE

by Knowles, John

Condition
Used - Near fine in near-fine jacket.
Edition
First printing
Published
1960
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$5,439.35

Show Details

Description:
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1960. First printing. Near fine in near-fine jacket.. Review copy of the first US edition, in the scarce first-issue dust jacket. A beautiful copy of Knowles's classic of an uneasy coming-of-age, set at a boys' boarding school among the desperately carefree 16-year-olds of 1942: too young, still, to be drafted into the war… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$5,439.35
A Separate Peace
More Photos

A Separate Peace

by Knowles, John

Condition
Used - Very Good
Edition
First Edition
Published
1959
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Portland, Oregon, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$2,486.56

Show Details

Description:
London: Secker & Warburg, 1959. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. First edition, first printing. Publisher's green cloth binding with titles stamped in silver on spine. Near Fine, with light lean and light reading crease to spine, previous owner name and vintage bookseller's ticket to front end sheet. In a Very Good+ dust jacket with publisher's price intact; light… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$2,486.56
No image available

A Separate Peace

by Knowles, John

Condition
Used - Very Good
Jacket Condition
Very Good
Edition
First Printing.
Published
1959
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
south dartmouth, Massachusetts, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$621.62

Show Details

Description:
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1959. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). First Printing.. Bluish gray cloth, first American edition, laid in is the author's signature on an index card. His first book and the basis for the 1972 movie. Second state jacket with reviews on both front and rear panels, included are two additional jackets both second state… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$621.62
A Separate Peace
More Photos

A Separate Peace

by John Knowles

Condition
Used - Good
Jacket Condition
Fair
Edition
First Edition
Published
1959
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$3,108.20

Show Details

Description:
First American Edition, First Printing. Inscribed and Signed by the Author. 186 pages. Hardcover Dimensons (approx): H 8in" x L 5.5in" Second issue dust jacket with commentator's black and green blurbs on front and rear panels; author photo and biography on rear flap. Dust jacket soiled; front flap with trimmed corners but publisher's $3.50 price present at upper right; dj presented… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$3,108.20
A Separate Peace
More Photos

A Separate Peace

by Knowles, John

Condition
Used - Very Good
Jacket Condition
Very Good
Published
1960
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Ridgewood, New York, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 3 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$233.12

Show Details

Description:
NY: The Macmillan Company, 1960. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. A reasonably tidy second printing copy of Knowles' first and best-loved novel, a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the Wold War II. Octavo, 8.25 x 5.5 in. 186pp. Light blue cloth boards, dark blue titles on spine and front panel; in dust jacket. Mild sun-fading to spine… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$233.12
A SEPARATE PEACE: A NOVEL - ADVANCE COPY

A SEPARATE PEACE: A NOVEL - ADVANCE COPY

by Knowles, John

Condition
Used
Edition
First American Edition
Published
1960
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Stephenson, Virginia, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$5,439.35

Show Details

Description:
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1960. First American Edition. Advance copy of the Knowles' first book, the story of a friendship between two 16 year old boys at a New England prep school, just before America's involvement in World War 2. While the first printing of the trade edition has been estimated at 3,000 copies, these unbound sheets, typically… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$5,439.35
A Separate Peace
More Photos

A Separate Peace

by John Knowles

Condition
Used - acceptable
Jacket Condition
none
Published
1964
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Los Angeles, California, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$20.19

Show Details

Description:
Vintage copy - A Separate Peace - A novel of life in an American preparatory school - A Separate Peace is timeless in its description of adolescence during a period when the entire country was losing its innocence to World War II. Set at a boys' boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, A… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$20.19
A Separate Peace

A Separate Peace

by John Knowles

Condition
Used - Good
Jacket Condition
No Jacket
Edition
Reprint
Published
1974
Binding
Pictorial Cover
ISBN 10
0435121324
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, GBR
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$9.80

Show Details

Description:
London: Windmill, 1974. Reprint. Pictorial Cover. Good/No Jacket. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. Type: Ex-Library Size: 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall
Item Price
A$9.80
No image available

A Separate Peace

by Knowles, John (Author)

Condition
New
Jacket Condition
No Jacket
Published
2003
Binding
Softcover
ISBN 10
0743253973
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Richland, Washington, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$27.97

Show Details

Description:
Scribner, 2003. Softcover. New/No Jacket. New Book: Trade Paperback
Item Price
A$27.97
A Separate Peace

A Separate Peace

by John Knowles

Condition
New
Binding
Paperback / softback
ISBN 10
0743253973
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Southport, Merseyside, GBR
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$26.34

Show Details

Description:
Paperback / softback. New.
Item Price
A$26.34
No image available

Separate Peace

by Knowles, John

Condition
Used - Collectible - Very Good
ISBN 10
1199230669
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$1,087.87

Show Details

Description:
Secker & Warburg. Collectible - Very Good. Condition: Very Good; 1959. Small 8vo. Story of a friendship based on dependency between two sixteen-year-old schoolboys. Full bound in green textured paper. Silver lettering on spine. Binding starting to crack near top of back outer joint. Previous owner's writing in ink on front paste down. Block edges and DJ dust… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$1,087.87
A Separate Peace

A Separate Peace

by Knowles, John

Condition
Used - Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10
0743253973
Quantity Available
1
Seller
GORING BY SEA, West Sussex, GBR
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 2 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$3.72

Show Details

Description:
Paperback. Good.
Item Price
A$3.72
No image available

A Separate Peace

by John Knowles

Condition
Used - Good
Published
2003-09-30
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10
0743253973
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Houston, Texas, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$8.00

Show Details

Description:
Scribner, 2003-09-30. Paperback. Good. 8x5x0.
Item Price
A$8.00
No image available

A SEPARATE PEACE (signed presentation copy)

by Knowles, John

Condition
Used
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Glen Head, New York, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$613.87

Show Details

Description:
NY 1974 16th printing. Hardcover octavo. Grey cloth with dark grey lettering. Very Near Fine (just very slight foxing of closed page ends) in VG Plus DJ (1/4 inch closed tear on lower edge and faint toning on rear dj panel; no wear, no tear. Price not clipped $5.95.) DJ has dark green panel on front with lettering… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$613.87
A Separate Peace
More Photos

A Separate Peace

by John Knowles

Condition
Used
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Oxford, Mississippi, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 2 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$916.92

Show Details

Description:
1960 edition, a later printing (dated 1979). Near fine in NF DU w/publisher's 11.95 price sticker on jacket flap. Signed by the author on first free endpaper at Square Books while visiting his friend Willie Morris in the early 1980s.
Item Price
A$916.92
A Separate Peace

A Separate Peace

by John Knowles

Condition
Used - Acceptable
Published
1996
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 10
0684833662
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Seattle, Washington, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$10.01

Show Details

Description:
Scribner, 1996. Hardcover. Acceptable. Disclaimer:A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact. Pages can include considerable notes-in pen or highlighter-but the notes cannot obscure the text. At ThriftBooks, our motto is: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Item Price
A$10.01
A Separate Peace

A Separate Peace

by Knowles, John

Condition
Used - Acceptable
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10
0553280414
Quantity Available
1
Seller
GORING BY SEA, West Sussex, GBR
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 2 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$12.70

Show Details

Description:
Paperback. Acceptable.
Item Price
A$12.70
No image available

A Separate Peace

by John Knowles

Condition
Used - Good
ISBN 10
0743253973
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$5.95

Show Details

Description:
Scribner. Good. Good. Ship within 24hrs. Satisfaction 100% guaranteed. APO/FPO addresses supported
Item Price
A$5.95