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The Unstrung Harp; or, Mr Earbrass Writes a Novel
by Edward Gorey
- Used
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Very Good +/Very Good +
- Seller
-
Waccabuc, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1953. Pictorial boards. Very Good +/Very Good +. Edward Gorey. SIGNED BY EDWARD GOREY on a decorative bookplate affixed to the front free endpaper. A very solid copy to boot of the 1953 stated 1st edition of the maestro's 1st published book. Tight and VG+ (handsome former owner bookplate at the front pastedown) in a crisp, price-intact ($2.00), VG+ dustjacket, with just a bit of light chipping and wear along the spine. 12mo, wonderfully illustrated along each recto, Gorey's madcap text at each facing recto.
Synopsis
On November 18th of alternate years Mr Earbrass begins writing 'his new novel.' Weeks ago he chose its title at random from a list of them he keeps in a little green note-book. It being tea-time of the 17th, he is alarmed not to have thought of a plot to which The Unstrung Harp might apply, but his mind will keep reverting to the last biscuit on the plate." So begins what the Times Literary Supplement called "a small masterpiece." TUH is a look at the literary life and its "attendant woes: isolation, writer's block, professional jealousy, and plain boredom." But, as with all of Edward Gorey's books, TUH is also about life in general, with its anguish, turnips, conjunctions, illness, defeat, string, parties, no parties, urns, desuetude, disaffection, claws, loss, trebizond, napkins, shame, stones, distance, fever, antipodes, mush, glaciers, incoherence, labels, miasma, amputation, tides, deceit, mourning, elsewards. You get the point. Finally, TUH is about Edward Gorey the writer, about Edward Gorey writing The Unstrung Harp. It's a cracked mirror of a book, and it's dedicated to RDP or Real Dear Person.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Appledore Books, ABAA
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 21845
- Title
- The Unstrung Harp; or, Mr Earbrass Writes a Novel
- Author
- Edward Gorey
- Illustrator
- Edward Gorey
- Format/Binding
- Pictorial boards
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good +
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good +
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Duell, Sloan and Pearce
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1953
- Keywords
- rare Edward Gorey, rare humor, rare illustrated, rare author's first books
- Bookseller catalogs
- Humor;
Terms of Sale
Appledore Books, ABAA
All books are offered subject to prior sale. Materials are returnable within 1 week of receipt provided prior notice is given.
About the Seller
Appledore Books, ABAA
Biblio member since 2005
Waccabuc, New York
About Appledore Books, ABAA
Buy and sell - rare, unusual and antiquarian - art, photography, literature, scholarly, sports, childrens, bindings.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Recto
- The page on the right side of a book, with the term Verso used to describe the page on the left side.
- Crisp
- A term often used to indicate a book's new-like condition. Indicates that the hinges are not loosened. A book described as crisp...
- Chipping
- A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or...
- 12mo
- A duodecimo is a book approximately 7 by 4.5 inches in size, or similar in size to a contemporary mass market paperback. Also...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
Frequently asked questions
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