[Rarebooks] fa: [ITALY] NORMAN DOUGLAS - ALONE - FIRST EDITION/FIRST ISSUE in DJ 1921

[ArCh]

Listed now, auction ending Sunday, October 18. Images and more details can be found at the URL below or by searching for the seller name arch_in_la. 

https://tinyurl.com/y4fwcle6

Thanks again,
Ardwight Chamberlain
Ann Arbor, MI, USA


Norman Douglas: Alone. London: Chapman & Hall, 1921. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, with the postscript present on p. 140 and the erratum slip to p. 157. Tall 8vo (23 cm), original burgundy cloth, in dustjacket. Woolf A21a.

The rather snarky "postscript" was reputedly suppressed after the first 200 copies were printed. Very Good in an about Very Good dustjacket: modest bumping to the spine ends, foxing to the edges of the text block, as often found, occasional light spotting to the leaves; dustjacket toned with some light spotting and a hint of fading to the spine, short tear/scrape at the head of the front panel, minor wear to the corners. Uncommon thus.

Impressions, musings and reminiscences of the author during his travels through Italy in the aftermath of World War I, with chapters on Mentone, Siena, Pisa, Viareggio, Rome, Sorrento, etc. Norman Douglas (1868-1952) was a rather louche literary figure of the early twentieth century. He began his career in the Foreign Office, but after several sexual scandals, one involving a pregnant mistress and at least two involving underage boys, he went into self-imposed exile in Italy, eventually taking up semi-permanent residence on the island of Capri, the Emperor Tiberius's old stomping grounds, a suitable haven for a man described as "depraved" and "pagan-to-the-core." He's best known today for his novel South Wind (1917) and for travel writings on Italy such as these.