Oflaherty Liam Austen John (3 results)

Hardcover Second Printing. Condition: Very Good+. Dust Jacket Condition: Good dj. Illustrated by (dj) John Austen (illustrator). American Edition. [good solid book, a little soiling to rear board; jacket slightly chipped at top corners and both ends of spine, moderate soiling, striking front panel illustration unblemished] The title character is "a strong man, morally debased by idleness and drink, existing on the fringe of the underworld in Dublin. He falls in love with a girl who strays from the streets into his life, and this love for a weak woman fixes its talons in his heart and eventually destroys them both." Another Irish laughfest by the author of "The Informer." Reproduces the striking jacket portrait of Gilhooley from the first U.K. edition (Jonathan Cape, 1926), by John Austen -- although printed in such a way as to partially obliterate his signature. NOISBN.

Hardcover. Condition: Near fine. Dust Jacket Condition: very good +. Austen, John (illustrator). First Edition. First printing, octavo size, 288 pp., signed by Liam O'Flaherty. Liam O'Flaherty (1896-1984) is considered by many to be one of the "foremost socialist writers in the first part of the 20th century". After serving in WWI (and being badly injured) he became involved in Irish politics and was a founding member of the Communist Party in Ireland. In his novels he could generally be seen as "a caustic, indeed corrosive, critic of the social pressures which shaped early twentieth-century Ireland and, in particular, the new Ireland which emerged with the founding of the Irish Free State." This work, "Mr. Gilhooley" is one of his "morbid" novels, with the story set in a "murky Dublin"; upon publication, it caused an "uproar over its 'indecent' content" (which has as a character a "girl of the streets"). The dust jacket with two illustrations by John Austen (1886-1948), a well-known illustrator whose style was at first influenced by Aubrey Beardsley and later by the Art Deco movement. ___DESCRIPTION: Bound in full brick-red cloth over boards, gilt lettering and rules on the spine, publisher's device blind-debossed on the back board, signed by Liam O'Flaherty on the front free endpaper, publisher's device on the title page; octavo size (7.75" by 5.5"), pagination: [1-4] 5-288. Publisher's dust jacket shows the original price of 7s. 6d., illustration of Mr. Gilhooley on the front panel by John Austen, another illustration (likely by Austen but unsigned) on the spine of a girl under a streetlamp, undoubtedly meant to be a "streetwalker", black lettering on front and spine, back panel publisher's ad for other works, front flap with a short summary of the book and the printed price, back flap blank. ___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 hint of sunning to the head and tail of the spine, some dustiness to the top edge of the text block, else fine. The unclipped dust jacket just shy of near fine; entire and free of tears, some overall soiling, minor overall edgewear, and a mark on the front panel crossing the left-hand shoulder of Gilhooley. Overall a wonderful example of this work of Irish literature, signed by the author. ___CITATION: Information above and quotes from the online Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. ___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details. ___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help.

Hardcover. Condition: Near fine. Garnett, R.A.; Austen, John; Gibbings, Robert; Papé, Frank C.; Odle, Alan; Garwood, Tirzah; Hilder, Rowland; Kermode, William; Grant, Duncan; Moon, P.V.; Leighton, Clare; Wolfe, Edward (illustrator). Each volume one of 550 copies, quarto size, approx. 650 total pages, each volume signed by the author. The "Furnival Books" were a series of shorter works from young authors, some of whom would go on to be considered the best of their day. The brainchild of bookseller and publisher A. W. Steele, he published these limited edition copies under two imprints, but the entire series of twelve books were all printed by the Chiswick Press between 1930 and 1932. One of the great bonuses of this series are the frontispiece illustrations, several by some of my own favourite artists: John Austen, Robert Gibbings, Frank Papé, and Clare Leighton. Particulars on the twelve books are as follows: (1) Powys, T.F.; Warner, Sylvia Townsend (Foreword); Garnett, R.A. (Woodcut), "The Key of the Field", 1930, no. 12, 39 pp.; (2) Bates, H.E.; Garnett, Edward (Foreword); Austen, John (Line Engraving), "The Hessian Prisoner:, 1930, no. 477, 42 pp.; (3) Coppard, A.E.; Gibbings, Robert (Woodcut), "The Man From Kilsheelan", 1930, no. 180, 38 pp.; (4) Davies, Rhys; O'Flaherty, Liam (Foreword); Papé, Frank C. (Illustration), "The Stars, The World, and The Women",1930, no. 135, 53 pp.; (5) Hanley, James; Aldington, Richard (Foreword); Odle, Alan (Frontispiece), "The Last Voyage", 1931, no. 232, 73 pp.; (6) Strong, L.A.G.; Coppard, A.E. (Foreword); Garwood, Tirzah (Frontispiece), "The Big Man", 1931, no. 267, 45 pp.; (7) Manhood, H.A.; Williamson, Henry (Foreword); Hilder, Rowland (Frontispiece), "Little Peter the Great", 1931, no. 368, 95 pp.; (8) Warner, Sylvia Townsend; Powys, T.F. (Foreword); Kermode, William (Frontispiece), "A Moral Ending" (also containing "A Parting Gift" and "How to Succeed in Life"), 1931, no. 468, 47 pp.; (9) Garnett, David; Bates, H.E. (Foreword); Grant, Duncan (Frontis), "A Terrible Day", 1932, no. 148, 37 pp.; (10) O'Flaherty, Liam; Davies, Rhys (Foreword); Moon, P.V. (Frontis), "The Wild Swan" (also containing "It Was the Devil's Work" and "Unclean"), 1932, no. 121, 60 pp.; (11) Benson, Stella; West, Geoffrey (Foreword); Leighton, Clare (Frontis), "Christmas Formula" (also containing "Tchotl" and "A Dream"), 1932, no. 419, 67 pp.; [and] (12) Collier, John; Sitwell, Osbert (Foreword); Wolfe, Edward (Frontis), "Green Thoughts", 1932, no. 45, 56 pp. ___DESCRIPTION: The volumes all of a uniform design, with each bound in a different colour of cloth, each with the title in gilt on both the front board and the spine, the author in gilt towards the bottom of the front board, year of publication in gilt at the tail of the spine, top edges gilt, the limitation pages found before the half-titles each signed by the author, each volume with a frontispiece by different artists; binding quarto size (10 1/8" by 6 3/8"), pagination as set forth above. ___CONDITION: The set near fine overall, the boards on most volumes clean (vol. 2 with a thin line on the back board which appears to be some sort of residue, vol. 9 with small spot of soil on the front board, and vol. 12 with what appears to be offsetting from the glue), the corners on most volumes straight and unrubbed but a few volumes lightly bumped and with minimal rubbing, strong, square text blocks with solid hinges, the interiors clean and bright, and the set entirely free of prior owner markings; several volumes with sunning to the boards and most volumes with the spines sunned. Still overall a lovely set, a few condition issues to the bindings, the interiors fine, we noted several signatures unopened. ___POSTAGE: Please note that the combined size and weight of this set will necessitate additional postage, please inquire for details; International customers, also please note that any taxes, duty, or tariffs charged by your country will, of necessity, be your responsibility. ___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help.