A Separate Peace
Price: $2,750.00
Hard Cover. London: Secker & Warburg, 1959. First Edition. Near Fine / Dust Jacket Included.
First edition, first printing. Publisher's bright green cloth, lettered in metallic silver to spine; in the original green, black, orange, and white pictorial dust jacket designed by Robin Ray. About fine book, with light creasing to head of spine, and light offsetting to endpapers; very good ir better price-clipped dust jacket, with light wear to spine ends, abrasion to upper front panel, and light soiling to front panel. With an autograph letter signed (ALS) from John Knowles on Cumberland Hotel, London letterhead, presumably to English critic John Davenport. Near fine ALS, with a half-fold, and a touch of spotting. Overall, a lovely pairing of book and handwritten letter. This coming-of-age story, based on the author's own previously published short story, "Phineas," explores adolescence during World War II, through the eyes of Gene, a young adult who visits his old boarding school. Knowles' first published novel and his best-known work, A Separate Peace has been the subject of frequent debate regarding the relationship between Gene and his friend, Finny, which many readers infer has an element of romantic attraction. In 1972, it was adapted for a film of the same name starring Parker Stevenson as Gene. John Davenport (1908-1966) was an English critic and book reviewer who wrote for The Observer and The Spectator. He collaborated on creative projects with F. Scott Fitzgerald and Dylan Thomas, and was a close friend and mentor to Malcolm Lowry. Davenport's great wit was supposedly matched by his physical strength, and according to an apocryphal story he once lifted someone he was debating into the air and set him on a mantlepiece, claiming, "You talk like a bloody clock and that's where you belong." ALS transcription: "June 11, 1961 / Dear John [Davenport], I'm in London for a week or so and would like very much to have a drink or a meal with you if you have the time - Have delivered new novel, for better or for worse, to Secker - Looking forward to a meet up - Yours ever, John Knowles" Item #JK003C
