H. E. BATES FIRST EDITIONS AT
ASH RARE BOOKS
43 HURON ROAD
LONDON SW17 8RE
UNITED KINGDOM

London : White Owl Press, 1932. First edition : one of 100 copies (of 130) numbered and signed by H. E. Bates. Two short stories, the first set in a London restaurant. “It might be rather extravagant to say of a writer that anything published over his name was worth reading, but it would not be much of an exaggeration to say this of Mr. H. E. Bates ... These two short stories are excellent examples ... The Story Without an End is the longer of the two, and describes the sudden flowering of an inhibited soul ... In The Country Doctor we are given another fine psychological study ... in its own quiet way it approaches very closely to perfection” (The Scotsman, 16th January 1933).
Demy 8vo (23cm). [vi],(52),[vi]pp. Striking art deco frontispiece. Original ochre bevelled buckram, lettered in gilt; top edge gilt; merest hint of tanning to endleaves; light offsetting of frontispiece to title-page, but a very good copy indeed – bright and sound.

£200

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London : Michael Joseph, (1960). First edition. The third of the Larkin novels – “A delight and worthily to be ranked with ‘The Darling Buds of May’, that preposterously gay and warm-blooded novel which had much the same effect as a bottle of champagne” (The Sphere, 30th July 1960). Later published in the USA as “Hark, Hark, the Lark!”.
Post 8vo (21cm). (158),[ii]pp. Original green cloth, blocked and lettered in gilt; faint tanning to endpapers; edges a little spotted, but otherwise a very good copy in the Broom Lynne dust-jacket, just lightly rubbed and with some mild spotting on the inner surface. Gift inscription dated Xmas 1961.

SOLD

London : Michael Joseph, (1961). First edition. A dozen short stories – “each of them perfectly shaped, perfectly balanced and filled with delight ... an admirable writer at the very top of his form” (The Sphere, 13th May 1961). Includes “Lost Ball”, “The Place Where Shady Lay”, “Daughters of the Village”, etc. Later published in the USA as “The Enchantress and Other Stories”.
Post 8vo (21cm). (206),[ii]pp. Original red cloth, blocked and lettered in gilt; a very good copy in the Charles Gorham dust-jacket, very slightly tanned and just a little nicked.

£40

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London : Michael Joseph, (1964). First edition. A collection of twelve short stories, “by a master, who, at his best, equals Chekhov and who seems incapable of writing a shop-worn phrase” (The Sphere, 4th April 1964). Not published in the USA.
Post 8vo (21cm). 192pp. Original pale mauve-grey boards, blocked and lettered across spine in gilt; a very good copy in the Kenneth Farnhill dust-jacket, also very good barring a few faint marks and a couple of tiny nicks.

£25

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