The Return of the Soldier - SIGNED and INSCRIBED in the year of publication
by West, Rebecca
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Harrogate, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Nisbet, 1918. A first edition, first printing published by Nisbet in 1918. A very good copy, bound in publisher's green cloth with titles in black to the spine and upper board. Some sunning to the cloth and on the spine with some minor wear to the spine tips and corners. All corners are bumped with some wear to the edges. Small pale stain to the front board. Some foxing and toning, mainly to the endpapers and prelims and text block. Inscribed in pencil in the year of publication to the half-title: 'Greta Wood, 4 Russell Gardens, Golders Green from Rebecca' West's first novel, featuring the homecoming of a shell-shocked captain suffering from amnesia following experiences in the Great War and his relationships with the women in his life. Actress Great Wood (aka Gertrude Sarah Wood, 1892-1984) was a contemporary and lifelong friend of West with a career spanning from 'Diana and Destiny' in 1916 to 'The Day after Tomorrow' in 1960. They met as students at the Academy of Dramatic Art where Greta was West's 'greatest friend'. After the war ended, West took her son to see a pantomime at Brighton and recognised Greta in the cast. The two of them became the 'a team' as West put it. She sometimes lent the struggling actress money and passed on Anthony's outgrown clothes to her son. Greta helped Rebecca in domestic crises and looked after her when she was ill. Greta married Charles Mortimer, fellow actor best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes and spent her twilight years in Newcastle-upoon-Tyne (Victoria Glendinning: 'Rebecca West: A Life' (pp. 35, 68)).
Synopsis
Writing her first novel during World War I, West examines the relationship between three women and a soldier suffering from shell-shock. This novel of an enclosed world invaded by public events also embodies in its characters the shifts in England's class structures at the beginning of the twentieth century.
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Details
- Bookseller
- John Atkinson Books (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 11095
- Title
- The Return of the Soldier - SIGNED and INSCRIBED in the year of publication
- Author
- West, Rebecca
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Nisbet
- Date Published
- 1918
- Bookseller catalogs
- World War One;
Terms of Sale
John Atkinson Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
John Atkinson Books
Biblio member since 2008
Harrogate, North Yorkshire
About John Atkinson Books
Offering rare and unique signed books not available elsewhere with constant changes in stock. Our showroom holds 100 rare first editions
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....
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- 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...
- Text Block
- Most simply the inside pages of a book. More precisely, the block of paper formed by the cut and stacked pages of a book....
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...