EVELYN WAUGH FIRST EDITIONS AT
ASH RARE BOOKS
43 HURON ROAD
LONDON SW17 8RE
UNITED KINGDOM

London : Duckworth, 1930. First edition. Waugh on his travels – Monte Carlo, Naples, Messina, Haifa, Port Said, Cairo, Malta, Crete, Constantinople, Athens, Corfu, Venice, Ragusa, Barcelona, Algiers, Malaga, Gibraltar, Seville and Lisbon – “piquant and entertaining, and, of course, pleasantly outspoken ... a jolly book, then, in which Mr. Waugh manages to advertise quite a number of picturesque objects, including himself. I enjoyed every word of his book, and have no hesitation in recommending it” (Ralph Straus in The Bystander, 1st October 1930).
Demy 8vo (23cm). 206,[ii]pp. Frontispiece by the author; double-page map; sketch map and three photo plates of Barcelona. Original blue cloth, lettered in gilt; a little sunned and faded; endpapers tanned; some spotting, mainly of edges and prelims; a good copy in the dust-jacket – the jacket expertly repaired and restored in places.

£500

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London : Chapman & Hall, (1932). First edition. His third novel – the modernisation of the Azanian empire.
Crown 8vo (20cm). (304)pp. Frontispiece map. Original lizard pattern red and black cloth, lettered in gilt; just lightly rubbed; some spotting, mainly to prelims and edges; a few faint marks, but a very good copy. Faint ownership inscription of M. A. Watson.

£125

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London : Chapman & Hall, (1936). First edition. A collection of eleven short stories, including “Period Piece”, “Excursion in Reality”, “Love in the Slump”, “Bella Fleace Gave a Party”, etc. “One of the few living authors who is incapable of being a bore. One of the few whose books are worth buying and keeping ... Mr. Waugh is the much-imitated author of our time. Yet we all know that he is inimitable” (Daily Mirror, 30th June 1936).
Crown 8vo (20cm). [ii],(238),[ii]pp. Frontispiece in two colours by Thomas Derrick (1885-1954) – a design also used on the elusive dust-jacket. Original lizard pattern red and black cloth, lettered in gilt; faint mark to top edge; some mild spotting of edges, but a very good copy, still bright and unworn.

£400

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London : Chapman & Hall, (1936). First edition. A collection of eleven short stories, including “Excursion in Reality”, “Love in the Slump”, and “Bella Fleace Gave a Party”. “One of the few living authors who is incapable of being a bore. One of the few whose books are worth buying and keeping ... ‘Excursion in Reality’ is a brilliant study of the unreality of cinema production ... Mr Waugh is the much-imitated author of our time. Yet we all know that he is inimitable” (Daily Mirror, 30th June 1936).
Crown 8vo (20cm). [ii],(238)pp. Frontispiece in two colours by Thomas Derrick (1885-1954). Original lizard pattern red and black cloth, lettered in gilt; spine just a touch sunned; a scattering of edge spots, but a very good copy, bright, sound and unworn.

£350

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London : Chapman & Hall, (1938). First edition. “Up to a point, Lord Copper” – the wrong Boot is sent to Ishmaelia. “Mr. Evelyn Waugh has let himself go with a whoop on the trail of sensational journalism ... easily the funniest book of the season” (Illustrated London News, 25th June 1938). The present copy has the front panel of the original dust-jacket laid in to the front free endpaper – the rare and quickly suppressed earlier version of the jacket, with the “Daily Beast” masthead clearly mimicking that of Beaverbrook’s “Daily Express”, and making the butt of Waugh’s satire all too plain. This was rapidly replaced by a plainer jacket with the masthead removed.
Original lizard pattern red and black cloth, lettered in gilt; just a touch rubbed and faintly sunned; some spotting, mainly of edges and prelims, but otherwise a very copy. Contemporary ownership inscription – Vinicombe, dated July 1938.

£500

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London : Chapman & Hall, 1945. First edition. “Chapter One : I meet Sebastian Flyte – and Anthony Blanche – I visit Brideshead for the first time” – “Each of his novels has hit its intended mark. He has not, up to now, aspired to write a great book. This time he has; and he has done so” (Elizabeth Bowen in The Tatler, 13th June 1945).
Crown 8vo (187 x 122mm). 304pp. Bound in an elegant recent crimson quarter morocco, banded and gilt; a few faint edge-spots; a couple of minor internal marks, but otherwise very good copy, handsomely bound.

£750

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London : Chapman & Hall, 1952-1961. A first edition set of the separately published “Men at Arms” (1952), “Officers and Gentlemen” (1955) and “Unconditional Surrender” (1961). “Waugh’s most profound and substantial work” (Anthony Gardner).
Three volumes. Crown 8vo (185 x 120mm). (vi),314; [x],(336); [viii],(312)pp. Bound in an elegant recent blue-black quarter morocco, banded and gilt; top edges blue; some mild tanning of a few outer leaves; some spotting, mainly of edges, but a very good set.

SOLD

London : Chapman & Hall, 1955. First edition. The second volume in Waugh’s “Sword of Honour” trilogy – “‘Men at Arms’ ended with the death of Apthorpe. ‘Officers and Gentlemen’ begins with the placation of his spirit, a ritual preparation for the descent into the nether world of Crete”.
Crown 8vo (20cm). [x],(336),[ii]pp. Original blue cloth, lettered in gilt; top edge blue; a few slight marks; a few edge-spots, but a very good copy in the original Val Biro dust-jacket – a design in blue, yellow, white and black – lightly marked, with a few nicks and a very short tear, the lower panel spotted, but complete and attractive still.

£75

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London : Chapman & Hall, 1957. First edition. Waugh starts hearing voices. “The devastating and racking funniness ... comes from Mr. Waugh’s genius for sheathing terror in mirth ... we are given pure entertainment, the better for getting the reader under the skin” (Elizabeth Bowen in The Tatler, 31st July 1957).
Crown 8vo (20cm). (viii),184pp. Original blue cloth, lettered in gilt; top edge blue; a very good, clean and sound copy in the Val Biro dust-jacket – a pictorial design in yellow, tan, black and white – the jacket with the merest hint of sunning and wear and also very good.

£100

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