A Morbid Taste for Bones

(London): Macmillan London Limited, 1977. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/fine. First printing, octavo size, 192 pp. The first book in the "Brother Cadfael" series, the title character being a Benedictine monk living in Wales in the early 12th century, who "combines the curious mind of a scientist/pharmacist with a knight-errant". The series would eventually encompass twenty novels, and was adapted to the stage, radio and television, the latter bringing the series into prominence starring Sir Derek Jacobi.

Written by the linguist and scholar Edith Mary Pargeter (1913-1995) under the pseudonym of Ellis Peters. Pargeter not only wrote multiple works of historical fiction (the Cadfael series, the "Brothers of Gwynedd" trilogy and more) but also authored history and Czech translations (n.b., info and above quote from Wiki).

___DESCRIPTION: Bound in full rust-coloured textured paper over boards, black lettering debossed on the spine, page 97 with a double line of text; octavo size (7 15/16" by 5"), pagination: [1-4] 5-192. Dust jacket with illustrated design on front panel, publisher's blurb on back panel for two other books (non-Cadfael) by Pargeter, summary of the book on the front flap with the publisher's price of GBP 3.50 on the lower corner, author bio with black-and-white head shot on the back flap.

___CONDITION: Volume near fine, with clean boards, straight corners without rubbing, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, and entirely free of prior owner markings; a small area on the front board where the paper appears a slightly different shade and minimal foxing to the top and bottom edges of the text block. Dust jacket fine overall, not price-clipped, clean and without wear other than a modicum of such where the back panel meets the back flap at the very bottom. Overall an exceptional example of the first book in the highly-regarded Cadfael series.

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