Details
WEBB, Mary (née Meredith, 1881- 1927). A collection of four novels and one manuscript by Mary Webb, comprising:
1. The Golden Arrow. London: Constable, 1916. 8° (185 x 121mm). Original blue cloth, blue morocco-backed case, some uncut leaves. FIRST EDITION. TRIAL BINDING in blue as opposed to brown cloth. Mary began writing The Golden Arrow when she was living in Weston-super-Mare. The novel is set in an area of the south Shropshire hills which she knew intimately, the Long Mynd and stiperstones, and the valleys between. Its central character, the gentle shepherd, John Arden, is based on a portrait of her father. The Webbs eventually returned to Shropshire in 1914, living at Pontesbury, where Mary completed her book.
2. Gone to Earth. London: Constable, 1917. 8° (187 x 122mm). Original red cloth, blue morocco-backed slipcase, some uncut leaves. FIRST EDITION. Mary wrote her second novel, Gone to Earth, during the horror of World War One, in which her three brothers were serving at the Western Front. Again a rural story set in the south Shropshire hills, the narrative also reflects in its mood and tragedy her response to those dark years. This novel was acclaimed by Rebecca West and other critics and writers of the day, such as John Buchan.
3. Mary. Seven for a Secret. London: Hutchinson, 1922. 8° (198 x 121mm). Original green cloth, green cloth slip-case. Provenance: Mary Shelley (the author's sister-in-law, inscribed on fly-leaf 'Mary Shelley from Mary Webb with love, Oct. 28th 1922, 46.B. Leinster Square'). Provenance: purchased from Scribners, New York, 6 September 1939, $102. Exhibited: Grolier Club (1950s exhibition label loosely inserted). FIRST EDITION. FINE COPY.
4. Precious Bane. London: Jonathan Cape, 1924. 8° (190 x 118mm). Original green cloth, with original cream dustjacket (torn slightly with small hole on cover, rubbed edges, slightly soiled), blue morocco-backed slipcase, some uncut leaves. Provenance: purchased from Scribners, New York, 2 February 1939, $80. FIRST EDITION. Mary Webb's finest achievement was the award of the Prix Femina, a coveted literary prize, for her fifth novel, Precious Bane, a story of rural Shropshire in the early nineteenth century. Although the book was greatly admired by the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, who sent Mary a letter of appreciation, and her work was praised by discerning critics, Mary had not yet won popular success. Her literary reputation was to grow after her death: ironically, six months later she became posthumously famous when the Prime Minister acclaimed her work in his speech at the Royal Literary Fund Dinner (in April 1928). The next day newspapers reported Baldwin's tribute to this 'neglected genius' and the public flocked to buy her books.
Autograph manuscript of a fairy story, 'Clematisa and Percival', n.d. [circa 1896-97], written in ink in a youthful hand, 13 pages, 4to, on lined paper, removed from an exercise book (tied with thread in upper left corner, slight spotting on 1st leaf); and a note by her husband, Henry Bertram Law Webb, 18 November 1936, confirming that it is 'an authentic work ... written in her handwriting at the age of 15 or 16', one page, 8vo; red morocco-backed cloth case. An unpublished early work, telling of the kidnapping of the heroine, named for the Clematis Fairy, by the Dandelion Fairy, and her rescue from a dandelion-covered moon by a prince name Percival. Mary Webb's novels of rustic life, of which Precious Bane (1924) was the most famous, achieved a great success posthumously, owing partly to the championship of Stanley Baldwin. (4)
1. The Golden Arrow. London: Constable, 1916. 8° (185 x 121mm). Original blue cloth, blue morocco-backed case, some uncut leaves. FIRST EDITION. TRIAL BINDING in blue as opposed to brown cloth. Mary began writing The Golden Arrow when she was living in Weston-super-Mare. The novel is set in an area of the south Shropshire hills which she knew intimately, the Long Mynd and stiperstones, and the valleys between. Its central character, the gentle shepherd, John Arden, is based on a portrait of her father. The Webbs eventually returned to Shropshire in 1914, living at Pontesbury, where Mary completed her book.
2. Gone to Earth. London: Constable, 1917. 8° (187 x 122mm). Original red cloth, blue morocco-backed slipcase, some uncut leaves. FIRST EDITION. Mary wrote her second novel, Gone to Earth, during the horror of World War One, in which her three brothers were serving at the Western Front. Again a rural story set in the south Shropshire hills, the narrative also reflects in its mood and tragedy her response to those dark years. This novel was acclaimed by Rebecca West and other critics and writers of the day, such as John Buchan.
3. Mary. Seven for a Secret. London: Hutchinson, 1922. 8° (198 x 121mm). Original green cloth, green cloth slip-case. Provenance: Mary Shelley (the author's sister-in-law, inscribed on fly-leaf 'Mary Shelley from Mary Webb with love, Oct. 28th 1922, 46.B. Leinster Square'). Provenance: purchased from Scribners, New York, 6 September 1939, $102. Exhibited: Grolier Club (1950s exhibition label loosely inserted). FIRST EDITION. FINE COPY.
4. Precious Bane. London: Jonathan Cape, 1924. 8° (190 x 118mm). Original green cloth, with original cream dustjacket (torn slightly with small hole on cover, rubbed edges, slightly soiled), blue morocco-backed slipcase, some uncut leaves. Provenance: purchased from Scribners, New York, 2 February 1939, $80. FIRST EDITION. Mary Webb's finest achievement was the award of the Prix Femina, a coveted literary prize, for her fifth novel, Precious Bane, a story of rural Shropshire in the early nineteenth century. Although the book was greatly admired by the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, who sent Mary a letter of appreciation, and her work was praised by discerning critics, Mary had not yet won popular success. Her literary reputation was to grow after her death: ironically, six months later she became posthumously famous when the Prime Minister acclaimed her work in his speech at the Royal Literary Fund Dinner (in April 1928). The next day newspapers reported Baldwin's tribute to this 'neglected genius' and the public flocked to buy her books.
Autograph manuscript of a fairy story, 'Clematisa and Percival', n.d. [circa 1896-97], written in ink in a youthful hand, 13 pages, 4to, on lined paper, removed from an exercise book (tied with thread in upper left corner, slight spotting on 1st leaf); and a note by her husband, Henry Bertram Law Webb, 18 November 1936, confirming that it is 'an authentic work ... written in her handwriting at the age of 15 or 16', one page, 8vo; red morocco-backed cloth case. An unpublished early work, telling of the kidnapping of the heroine, named for the Clematis Fairy, by the Dandelion Fairy, and her rescue from a dandelion-covered moon by a prince name Percival. Mary Webb's novels of rustic life, of which Precious Bane (1924) was the most famous, achieved a great success posthumously, owing partly to the championship of Stanley Baldwin. (4)
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