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THE UNSTRUNG HARP; OR, MR. EARBRASS WRITES A NOVEL
by Edward Gorey
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very good +/good +
- Seller
-
Blue Hill, Maine, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce/Little Brown, 1953. first edition as stated. Hardcover. Very good +/good +. 5 x 8 in. Matching pictoral paper boards. Stated first edition, 1953. Condition is VERY GOOD+ ; covers extremely clean and fresh with a touch of wear to corners, light wear to spine ends. Binding tight. Gift message dated 1955 on ffep, small bookseller's label on rear pastedown "Palmer's Book Shop 224 Maine St. Brunswick Maine". Text very clean, edges show a touch of toning. DJ is GOOD+ ; not clipped ($2.00) very clean except a tiny red pencil mark bwlow the curtains on front. Upper front edge has a couple of long chips, rear has two larger at same edge. In a new Mylar wrapper. Rare. RGR.
Synopsis
On November 18th of alternate years Mr Earbrass begins writing 'his new novel.' Weeks ago he chose its title at random from a list of them he keeps in a little green note-book. It being tea-time of the 17th, he is alarmed not to have thought of a plot to which The Unstrung Harp might apply, but his mind will keep reverting to the last biscuit on the plate." So begins what the Times Literary Supplement called "a small masterpiece." TUH is a look at the literary life and its "attendant woes: isolation, writer's block, professional jealousy, and plain boredom." But, as with all of Edward Gorey's books, TUH is also about life in general, with its anguish, turnips, conjunctions, illness, defeat, string, parties, no parties, urns, desuetude, disaffection, claws, loss, trebizond, napkins, shame, stones, distance, fever, antipodes, mush, glaciers, incoherence, labels, miasma, amputation, tides, deceit, mourning, elsewards. You get the point. Finally, TUH is about Edward Gorey the writer, about Edward Gorey writing The Unstrung Harp. It's a cracked mirror of a book, and it's dedicated to RDP or Real Dear Person.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Andre Strong Bookseller
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 50359
- Title
- THE UNSTRUNG HARP; OR, MR. EARBRASS WRITES A NOVEL
- Author
- Edward Gorey
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very good +
- Jacket Condition
- good +
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- first edition as stated
- Publisher
- Duell, Sloan and Pearce/Little Brown
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1953
Terms of Sale
Andre Strong Bookseller
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
Andre Strong Bookseller
Biblio member since 2008
Blue Hill, Maine
About Andre Strong Bookseller
Andre Strong Bookseller is located in Blue Hill, on the coast of Maine. We offer 22,000 books for sale online, and work from an office and rare book room, with a warehouse adjacent. We carry a wide selection of fine books on every subject, with specialization in art, architecture, photography, nautical, Maine and fiction. We do not have an open shop - if you'd like to visit, please arrange an appointment.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- 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...
- Good+
- A term used to denote a condition a slight grade better than Good.
- 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...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- FFEP
- A common abbreviation for Front Free End Paper. Generally, it is the first page of a book and is part of a single sheet that...
- 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....
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