THE DAY OF CREATION (First edition - first impression)

First impression of the true first edition. ****Near fine in black cloth covered boards with gilt titles to the spine. Head and tail of spine slightly creased. Corners sharp. Boards clean and unmarked, with the edges just slightly faded. No reading lean to the binding. Spine tight. Page block edges clean. No foxing. Internally also near fine with no inscriptions. No tears or creases. Pages clean although the paper stock has tanned slightly. ***In a near fine colour illustrated dustwrapper, which has not been price-clipped, retaining the original publisher's printed price of £10.95 net. Head and tail of spine of dustwrapper just very slightly rubbed. There is a 2cm closed tear to the edge of the front panel of the dustwrapper at the top corner, but this is not very noticeable. No chips or creases. Spine colour unfaded. Dustwrapper bright. ***254 pages. 242mm x 162mm. ***'The Day of Creation is a 1987 novel by British writer J. G. Ballard. The main character of the novel is the World Health Organization doctor John Mallory who, six months after his arrival in Central Africa, finds that intense guerrilla activity has left him without patients. He devotes himself, instead, to the task of bringing water to the region, with dreams of setting the Sahara in flower. When he accidentally manages to achieve his task by creating a river, he becomes prey of an increasingly delirious spiral of fantasies, starting to identify himself with the new river that he has dubbed "Mallory". Obsessed, he decides to go up the river in order to "kill" its source, together with a teenaged African girl, whom he considers a sort of spirit of the waters, and other characters including a half-blind British documentary filmmaker and two ruthless local chieftains trying to take advantage of the new prosperity brought by the water.' (Wiki) ***'This is classic Ballard. Mesmerising. No one else writes with such haunting aspect.' - William Boyd (Review quote taken from the back panel) ***First impression of the true first edition, in very nice collectable condition. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.