SIMON RAVEN FIRST EDITIONS AT
ASH RARE BOOKS
43 HURON ROAD
LONDON SW17 8RE
UNITED KINGDOM

London : Anthony Blond, (1959). First edition. His second novel – a resignation from the army, a mysterious and murky organisation steps in. Murder required. “A thriller written in a sort of lurid phosphorescence” (Siriol Hugh-Jones in The Tatler, 4th November 1959).
Crown 8vo (20cm). [vi],(248),[ii]pp. Original black boards, blocked and lettered in gilt; edges and outer leaves unevenly tanned, but otherwise a very good copy in the Oliver Carson dust-jacket – the jacket a little worn, with a small mark and two short repaired tears to spine. Contemporary ownership inscription to front free endpaper.

£25

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London : Anthony Blond / Blond & Briggs, (1964-1976). A complete first edition set of all ten volumes of Raven’s celebrated Alms for Oblivion sequence – “a series of ten novels to cover the English upper middle class scene since the war ... If there is one theme which will dominate the series, it is that human effort and goodwill are persistently vulnerable to the malice of time, chance and the rest of the human race”. Comprises The Rich Pay Late (1964); Friends in Low Places (1965); The Sabre Squadron (1966); Fielding Gray (1967); The Judas Boy (1968); Places Where They Sing (1970); Sound the Retreat (1971); Come Like Shadows (1972); Bring Forth the Body (1974), and The Survivors (1976).
Ten volumes. Post 8vo (21cm). Original boards; the occasional slight mark or spot, but overall a very good set in the dust-jackets – the first seven in the delightful designs of Oliver Elmes (1934-2011), the final three – corresponding with the change of imprint to Blond & Briggs and presumably in a misguided attempt to refresh the brand and address flagging sales with a more consciously ‘modern’ design – a silver affair by Bob Smithers. The jackets, bar a touch of fading and some very minor evidence of age and use, with some inevitable light wear to the silver ones, are also very good, albeit the fourth is price-clipped; the eighth has a slight nick; the ninth some creasing to the inner flaps, and the last has been price-clipped by the publisher and with a revised price over-sticker.

SOLD

London : Blond & Briggs, (1976). First edition. “From his first days as a subaltern, Fingel’s idea of his regiment and of the whole British army is that they exist merely to be exploited for his own wry amusement and advancement ,,, a comically incredible series of military japes involving everyone from the private soldier to the colonel’s lady. A welcome addition to the engaging rogues of fiction whom one hopes never to meet in real life” (London Evening News, 15th November 1976).
Demy 8vo (23cm). (144)pp. Original orange boards, lettered in silver; a very good, clean, bright and sound copy in the dust-jacket by “Michael ffolkes” [Brian Davis (1925-1988)] – the jacket with some very minor rubbing and creasing, but also very good. Neat contemporary ownership inscription of Martin Cohen.

£25

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London : Blond & Briggs, (1980). First edition. His previously unpublished first novel – rejected over libel fears in 1950 and here resurrected. A semi-autobiographical tale of acting as tutor to the “erratic and erotic son of an hysterical millionairess” – London, country house, Aldeburgh, Biarritz.
Demy 8vo (23cm). 176pp. Original black boards, lettered in gilt; faint mark to top edge, but otherwise a very good copy in the Craig Dodd dust-jacket – also very good.

£25

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London : Blond & Briggs, (1982). First edition. Raven’s hilarious cricketing reminiscences – cricket at Charterhouse, and in Cambridge, Bangalore, Kenya, Aden and Corfu – feuds, scandals, intrigues, liaisons, loves, hates, tragedies, comedies, farces – “from the virtuous to the vicious, from the clever and beautiful to the dreamy and debased”.
Demy 8vo (23cm). [viii],(228),[iv]pp. Original blue boards, ruled and lettered in gilt; slight bruise to one corner, but otherwise a very good copy in the Lawrence Toynbee dust-jacket – the jacket a little sunned at spine, as usual, but otherwise also very good.

£40

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London : Blond & Briggs, (1983). First edition. In search of mythical mediaeval treasure, with Ptolomaeos Tunne, Ivan Barraclough, Jo-Jo, Baby Canteloupe and Raven’s usual blend of wildly eccentric characters.
Demy 8vo (23cm). [viii],(262),[ii]pp. Original tan boards, lettered in gilt; just slightly bruised; text a little tanned as usual, but otherwise a very good copy in the Colin Lewis dust-jacket – also slightly bruised and just lightly sunned, but also very good. Contemporary ownership inscription of Martin Cohen.

£25

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London : Blond & Briggs / Anthony Blond / Muller, Blond & White / Frederick Muller / Hutchinson, (1984-1992). A complete first edition set of all seven volumes – Morning Star (1984); The Face of the Waters (1985); Before the Cock Crow (1986); New Seed for Old (1988); Blood of My Bone (1989); In the Image of God (1990); and The Troubadour (1992). “Perhaps it’s time that Raven’s books got a Government health warning” (Daily Mail).
Seven volumes. Demy 8vo (23cm). Original boards; text slightly tanned, as usual, in the first and two final volumes, but otherwise a very good set in the original dust-jackets – the first three by Lawrence Toynbee (1922-2002) – the jackets a little sunned at spine, but unclipped and otherwise also very good. Neat ownership inscription of Martin Cohen in each volume.

SOLD

London : Hamish Hamilton, (1986). First edition. Reminiscence draped “in the camouflage of discretion” – “More rubbish has been written about the British public school system than possibly any other subject in the field of education ... Raven admits that he discovered a ‘great many snakes’ in his ‘Public School Eden’. But he reminds us: ‘Grubs that feed on filth turn into painted butterflies’. Which admirably explains the unique strength of the public school. It’s a case of Give me the boy and I’ll make him a man. Doing this isn’t easy – that’s why people pay for it” (Newcastle Journal, 25th September 1986).
Medium 8vo (25cm). [2],(xii),(140),[vi]pp. Plates. Original green boards, ruled, blocked and lettered in gilt; a very good copy in the dust-jacket – the jacket sunned at spine, but otherwise also very good.

£25

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London : Muller, Blond & White, (1986). First edition. The third novel in the “First-Born of Egypt” sequence – “in some Italian gutter there is a snipe with a legitimate claim to the entire Canteloupe estate”.
Demy 8vo (23cm). [viii],274,[vi]pp. Original black boards, blocked and lettered in gilt; just a little bruised, but otherwise a very good copy in the Lawrence Toynbee dust-jacket – also very good.

£40

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London : Hamish Hamilton, (1988). First edition. “Some readers will label it Rabelaisian, others merely ribald ... will make some readers chuckle out loud – and others will close the book in horror ... Raven and a group of friends tell each other anecdotes from their past as they visit race courses, cricket grounds and hostelries ... not the kind of book to leave around when your maiden aunt comes for Sunday tea” (Deal, Walmer & Sandwich Mercury, 19th May 1988).
Demy 8vo (23cm). [4],[vi],226,[4]pp – integral endpapers. Illustrations by Tim Jacques. Original red boards, blocked and lettered in silver; a couple of faint marks to boards; text a little tanned, as ever, but otherwise a very good and sharp copy in the Tim Jacques dust-jacket – the jacket with the merest hint of creasing, but bright, unworn, and also very good.

£25

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London : Frederick Muller, (1989). First edition. The demise of the Provost sets off a chain of disgraceful doings. “Raven has the mind of a cad and the pen of an angel” (Guardian review). The fifth volume in “The First Born of Egypt” sequence.
Demy 8vo (23cm). [vi],(198),[iv]pp. Original boards; just a hint of bruising, but a very good, bright and sound copy in the Patrick Mortemore dust-jacket – also very good.

£40

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London : Hamish Hamilton, (1989). First edition. Further memoirs from the always-colourful Raven – including encounters with Christopher Isherwood and Gore Vidal.
Demy 8vo (23cm). (220),[iv]pp. Illustrations by Tim Jacques. Original black boards, blocked and lettered in gilt; a very good copy in the Jaques dust-jacket – the jacket just a touch bruised, with a single tiny nick, but also very good.

£25

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London : Frederick Muller, (1990). First edition. A curious late Raven memoir, apparently soon withdrawn from publication having been subjected to the most savage reviews he can ever have experienced – by Craig Brown, Christopher Hitchens, Humphrey Carpenter, and not least by Auberon Waugh – “With a shock we realise that Raven is writing about real people, albeit dead ones ... I am sorry to be pompous, but this simply won’t do ... These were all people that I knew ... Forget about libel, or good taste, or the normal standards of civilised reticence ... The interesting thing is not that he should have had these experiences but that he should choose to say he has, and that he should find a publisher prepared to print them”.
Medium 8vo (25cm). (x),190,[viii]pp. Original orange boards, blocked and lettered in black; text a little tanned as usual, but otherwise a very good copy in the dust-jacket – the jacket a little faded at spine, but otherwise also very good.

£40

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Broze : The Winged Lion, (1997). First edition. Eleven stories – “chilling, gruesome, disturbing” – culled from magazine appearances between 1975 and 1994 and previously unpublished in book form – death on the golf course at Sandwich; playing backgammon in Mongolia; a medieval racing tip, and much else besides.
Demy 8vo (22cm). [vi],(106)pp. Original maroon boards, blocked and lettered in gilt; just a touch of bruising, but a very good copy in the Annie Shrager dust-jacket – the jacket lightly sunned, with some minor bruising, but also very good.

£50

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