ALPHONSE DAUDET. [Author SIGNED+dedicated copy.]

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,author SIGNED,1st edn.VG+/POOR.No owner inscrptn,but author's handwritten dark blue ink inscrptn+dedication thus: ' To Edith C. Thomas (the invaluable 'Mrs Nicol',whose typing saved my eyesight,whose Index never let me down),in memory of happy companionship and common toil. G. V. D. November 1949.' to top,right-hand corner of front free endpaper. Dw/dj grubbed, rubbed,nicked,chipped,torn with varying degrees of concomitant loss to both head+foot of spine/backstrip,and all corners - approx. 80+% present.Top edges with faded,patchy blue colouring,fore-edges with minimal sporadic foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight, clean,solid and sound - text body virtually foxing-free and no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips - appears unread, other than my own collation. Publisher's original,bright,clean, reasonably sharp-cornered - gentlly curled tips - undecorated,plain RAF-blue cloth boards with bright crisp,blocked gilt lettering and gilt decoration of a windmill,to the spine /backstrip,and clean,plain white endpapers - inscrptn excepted - both hinges intact without any cracking.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,author SIGNED+dedicated,1st edn,v-xiiipp+1-306pp [paginated] includes author's Preface,separate contents_ilustrations lists/tables,ad edication with blank verso,33 chapters,13pp contemporary b/w illustrations, reproduction painting, ngraving portraits,and indoor+outdoor photographs interspersed throughout the text and the book, appendices (A-E),a 4pp bibliography and an Index; plus [unpaginated] half-title with blank verso,subject's bw contemporary b/w portrait photographic frntis with blank recto and title page. Leaving the dw/dj aside,visually the exterior appearance is more than acceptable for a book of it's age and for the little protection offered by the rather distressed dw/dj,and even internally,the book is in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation. It is only the exterior faults described that prevent a higher grading. Despite them,it really is an exceptional copy for brightness and cleanliness.The dw/dj is included for overall completeness only. Alphonse Daudet,born in Nimes,France. (b. 13th May,1840 – d. 16th December,1897) was a French novelist,short story writer,a playwright, and a poet.He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée, Leon and Lucien Daudet. This literary biography was composed while first-hand material from Daudet's contemporaries was still obtainable.It presents Daudet as man and author against the social and political background of 19thC France from the coup d'etat of 1851 to the campaign for the revision of the Dreyfus sentence towards the end of the century. The author gives us vivid impressions of Daudet's milieux: Provence,the Latin Quarter,Second Empire politics,the Franco-Prussian War,and England in the Nineties. Daudet is not depicted as an isolated figure,but counting among his many friends Turgenev,Flaubert,Edmond de Goncourt,Mistral and Zola. Mrs Vera Dobie has made this study her devoted life-work,and has succeeded in presenting her scholarly material with such warmth and skill that this book should give pleasure to all interested in French life and literature. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** This item offered P+p included.Offer available UK only,unless indicated otherwise. ** ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always.