George Leigh Mallory : A Memoir

The First UK printing published by Oxford University Press in 1927. The BOOK is in Very Good++ condition. Original publisher's paper label complete with slight toning to the top edge. Spare paper label is present and is tipped in to the rear. Early rubbing to the lower corners. Tiny superficial scuff to the rear cover. Light offsetting to the blank end-papers. Edges rough-cut. Portrait frontispiece by Emery Walker with the tissue-guard present. Contemporary gift inscription to the front blank end-paper. The scarce WRAPPER is complete and is in Very Good+ condition. Some loss to the upper spine end but there is no loss of lettering. Mild edge-wear to the lower spine tip and corners. A little light edge-wear with mild toning to the spine. Small closed tear area with light rubbing to the rear cover and a few age related markings in places. Illustrated with five B/W photographic plates which are complete. The wrapper remains very attractive in the removable Brodart archival cover. George Herbert Leigh Mallory was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest, in the early 1920s. During the 1924 expedition, Mallory and his climbing partner, Andrew 'Sandy' Irvine, disappeared on the north-east ridge of the Everest.'Whilst at Cambridge University, he became good friends with future members of the Bloomsbury Group, including Rupert Brooke, John Maynard Keynes, James Strachey, Lytton Strachey, and Duncan Grant, who took some portraits of Mallory. Among these friends, particularly Strachey, his letters attest a flirtatious, homoerotic and 'explicitly gay' friendship' (Wiki). An extremely elusive title and I can see no auction records for any copies having appeared with the wrapper. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.