Captain Horatio Hornblower Omnibus (Beat to Quarters; Ship of the Line; Flying Colours)
Price: $1,500.00
Hard Cover. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1939. First American Edition. Near Fine.
Three volumes. Illustrated with a frontispiece by N. C. Wyeth in each volume. First American edition thus. Signed and inscribed by Forester on front free endpaper of Vol. I: "Howard L. Hanes / with best wishes from / C. S. Forester April 1940". Publisher's pale blue cloth, with black label lettered in gilt to spines, and pale yellow endpapers; lacking scarce glassine dust jackets; in its original pale blue-green slipcase, with white paper label lettered in black to spine. Near fine set, with light toning to spines; good slipcase, with some spotting and rubbing, toning to spine label, separation along top edge of front panel, a few marks to front panel, and light staining to bottom corners of mouth of slipcase. Overall, a lovely set. Housed in a custom green chemise and quarter morocco slipcase. This collection features the first three books in C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower series (the first book, Beat to Quarters, was published under the title The Happy Return in the UK). The series follows the adventures of a remarkably complex naval hero during the Napoleonic Wars, whose daring naval feats are shadowed by crippling self-doubt. The series comprises 11 novels, one unfinished fragment, and five short stories published between 1937 and 1967, and practically pioneered the historical naval fiction genre. Interestingly, the Hornblower character was a major creative influence on Star Trek captains James T. Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard, who, similarly, are isolated captains, far from home. Item #CSF004
