Description

Published by Chatto & Windus, London; 1993. 8vo. 472pp. First edition, first impression. Condition: Near Fine Fine.

Bound in original dark green cloth boards with title in gilt to the spine. The binding is square and tight and in very smart condition, with just a touch of bumping to the corners and spine ends, and a crease to the spine. Inside, the pages are clean and bright and free from damage, with the top edge still stained green, and with only the odd finger rub mark and a little speckling, predominantly to the edges. 

The book is housed in its original, unclipped, dust jacket. It is still as bright and vivid as the day it was published and is free from blemishes and wear, with perhaps just the slightest hint of bumping to the spine ends.

In all, this is a lovely example of this modern first by Iris Murdoch, her 25th novel to be published. The novel is a loose parody of the medieval poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, although it is mainly a comedy of errors, with a series of bizarre twists and turns in circumstances that threaten the stability of a group of friends in a London community. Iris Murdoch was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher most well-known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her 1978 novel The Sea, the Sea, won the Booker prize, and in 2008 The Times ranked her at 12th on their list of The 50 Greatest British writers since 1945. She was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1987 for service to literature. This beautiful book would be an excellent addition to any collection of Murdoch s work.