Boy by James Hanley - 1946

NY: A.A. Knopf, 1932. Gray cloth stamped in read and black. 255pp. Slight wear and soiling, small surface stain on back cover. Photos on request.. 2nd Printing. Hardcover. Good+. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

London: Andre Deutsch Limited, 1990. First Thus Edition. Hardcover. Octavo, xiii, xvi, 191 pages. In Very Good condition with a Very Good dust jacket. Spine black with white lettering. Dust jacket protected with a mylar covering. Exterior shows extremely light wear with small sticker to the lower spine. Boards show minimal wear. Text block has minimal wear to the edges. Illustrated. First thus edition. NOTE: Shelved in Netdesk Column H, ND-H. 1378656. FP New Rockville Stock.

Editions Joëlle Losfeld, 2003. Paperback. New. 265 pages. French language. 7.01x4.96x0.87 inches.

NY: Alfred A Knopf, 1932. First Edition Stated . Cloth. Good/No Jacket. NY: Alfred A Knopf, 1932. First Edition Stated . Cloth. Good/No Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Book intact and pages clean, Cover soiled and faded with a minimun edge wear Part of the Dust Jacket that included the original price has been glued to the inside cover. <br/> <br/>

Used - Very Good. Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects.

Paris: Nicholson & Watson, 1948. 315pp. Roman trauduit de l'anglais par Jean Perier. Couverture originale collee sur toile.. Reliure Contemporaine. Bel Ex. 18 X 12. Ex-Lib.

Paris: The Obelisk Press, 1946. Soft Cover. Good. 0x0x0. 1946 printing. Spine and wrappers creased and lightly toned, pencil name on front flyleaf, pages faintly toned. 171 pp. "Arthur Fearon is nearly thirteen, and in the eyes of the law, that makes him a man. He wants to study to become a chemist, but his family cannot afford for him to continue school. The thought of a life working the docks makes Fearon break down in front of his classmates, but there is no time to cry. This boy has to get to work. The docks are hellish, and Fearon’s first day is his last. He hops a steamer to Alexandria, looking for a better life on the sea, but everywhere he goes, he finds cruelty, vice, and the crushing weight of adulthood. He will not be a man for long.

Alfred A. Knopf, 1932. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. First edition stated. Full black cloth binding with red lettering, in black & red DJ, 7-3/4" tall, 255 pp. + colophon. Only flaw to book is fading to top 1/4" of spine; dust jacket missing corresponding top 1/4" of spine panel, some fading to black as expected. Overall, a very nice copy. Hanley's writing explored the lives and struggles of working-class people, often in stark and realistic terms. His experiences growing up in poverty in Liverpool and working in a variety of jobs gave him firsthand knowledge of the conditions faced by working-class people, and this informed his writing.

Paperback. Good.

This, his second and best-known novel, is about a young boy who suffers brutal neglect and homosexual exploitation. Hanley, from Liverpool, had gone to sea at age seventeen but jumped ship in Canada in 1917 to join the Canadian army, with which he fought briefly in WWI. When the boy of the book's title goes to sea as a thirteen-year-old stowaway, he is subjugated to homosexual abuse. It caused a sensation when published in England. The 1931 first trade edition was expurgated, and the 1934 second edition was successfully prosecuted for obscenity. This copy shows its age by some yellowing of the paper and there is a stain on the front cover--otherwise in excellent condition.