Brighton Rock

New York: Viking Press, 1938. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/near fine. 1st edition (published in June), preceding the London edition (published in July). Fine in a dustjacket with just small nicks and tears at the edges, else near fine, and with the rare wraparound band, also near fine, and the band is of critical importance because it was only issued with the few earliest copies, and says so right on it, and therefore it is the only identifier of the 1st issue and copies without the band can be dismissed like junk mail. The London edition, in this condition, is 10 times our price even though it is later, and our NY edition in jacket, when it has the band, is rarer than the London edition in jacket, but that is another fact that is not widely known. Fine full morocco case. As a young man, Greene worked as a journalist in Brighton, covering stories of local crime and gang activity. He was particularly fascinated by the culture of violence and corruption that existed in Brighton during the 1930s, and this provided the inspiration for his novel.

Brighton Rock's plotline is heavy beyond sorrow, taking the reader on a journey into psyche of a morally ambiguous protagonist while more broadly examining the darker aspects of human nature. And if you like the novel and want the best copy of it for quality, significance, priority, rarity, and beauty, here it is.