Paris: The Olympia Press, [1957, per colophon]. 172pp. Softcover. "Traveller's Companion Series" No. 33. Spine with some soil and wear at foot; very good.

First edition. Inscribed: "The least biographical of the lot, Harriet Daimler aka Iris Owens."

Iris Owens (1929-2008), Olympia Press writer, pornographer, satirist, Paris and Greenwich Village resident. Samuel Beckett praised her and Terry Southern wrote that "aside from her Junoesque beauty, [Owens] had rapier wit and devastating logic. She was a pre-Sontag Sontag." In the 1950s and '60s, Owens resided in Paris and was connected with the expatriate writers' circle known who created the literary journal Merlin. This group included prominent figures like Alexander Trocchi, Christopher Logue, John Stevenson, George Plimpton, and Richard Seaver.

"Owens was very private about her 1960s. She left no memoir, and her friends offer no account." (Scott) Beginning in the early 1980s, she began to suffer from agoraphobia and "by the 1990s she barely left her flat at all. Owens died in 2008 in relative obscurity, without a New York Times obituary." (ibid) Owens's withdrawal from society may explain the rarity of finding her books signed, let alone inscribed. We locate no inscribed copies in the trade and just one auction record for a signed (only) copy of After Claude that brought £450 ($550) in 2022.

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Details

Bookseller: Ian Brabner, Rare Americana (ABAA) (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 3732877
Title: Innocence. (Inscribed and signed)
Author: Harriet Daimler [pseud. of Iris Owens]
Book Condition: Used
Quantity Available: 1

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Ian Brabner, Rare Americana (ABAA)

We are members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB). As such, we abide by their code of ethics and conduct. We are also members of The Manuscript Society and The Ephemera Society of America (Lifetime). Ian Brabner is also a member of The Grolier Club. All items are unconditionally guaranteed to be as described and authentic. All major defects are noted. Images are not to scale, measurements are given. Returns are accepted for any reason within 12 days of receipt. We accept all major credit cards, PayPal, and check. Institutions and libraries may be billed per their budgetary requirements. All items are subject to prior sale. Title does not pass to the buyer until the purchase price has been discharged in full.

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Ian Brabner, Rare Americana (ABAA)

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Biblio member since 2020

Wilmington, Delaware

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About Ian Brabner, Rare Americana (ABAA)

Established in 1995, Ian Brabner, Rare Americana buys and sells rare books and manuscripts covering diverse facets of American history.

Our inventory encompasses a broad spectrum of collecting interests, with a special focus on 18th- and 19th-century American history, including African-American history, women's history, and unique or unusual materials documenting the American experience. In our stock, you will also find rare pamphlets, documents, letters and correspondence, journals, diaries, significant archives, as well as original art, graphics, and photographs.

Glossary

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Spine: The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
New: A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
Inscribed: When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...