Five Men and a Swan by Naomi Mitchison - 1957

Published by George Allen & Unwin, London; 1957. 159pp. 8vo. Condition: Near Fine/Near Fine.

Bound in original dark green cloth boards with title in silver to the spine. The binding is square and tight and in smart condition with just a touch of bumping to the spine ends and darkening to the top edge. Inside, the pages are clean and bright, free from damage and marks other than some toning and speckling to the edges.

The book is housed in its original, unclipped jacket. With just some darkening to the spine and top edge, and a little dumping to the spine ends and corners, the jacket is in very smart condition.

In all, this is a lovely example of this collection of Scottish tales and verse by Mitchison. Naomi Mitchison wrote over 70 books and died in 1999 at the age of 101. She travelled extensively during her life and, in the 1960s, she was adopted as advisor and mother of the Bakgatla tribe in Botswana. Her books are on a range of genres, including historical fiction; science fiction; poetry; autobiography; and nonfiction. This collection os stories is a 'Carradale book', as it contains vivid and realistic stories and poems of the landscape and people. The titular story is perhaps one of her best, 'a classic of Scottish literature' (Moira Burgess). It was after the publication of these stories that she switched her attention to the cause of the Bakgatla tribe in Botswana and focussed on African themes.