A HANDFUL OF DUST (First edition - fifth impression)

Fifth impression of the true first edition, printed in the same month as the first impression - September, 1934. Apparently, the novel took just four weeks to reach this fifth impression. With a frontispiece illustration of 'Hatton Abbey - the seat of Anthony Last Esq.' by J.D.M. Harvey. ***Very good in the publisher's stylish black and red snake-skin effect marbled cloth-covered boards, with gilt titles to the spine. The gilt is still quite bright. The boards are quite clean, but there are some staining marks on the both the front and back boards (please see scans). Head and tail of the spine slightly rubbed and creased but there are no tears to the fragile cloth. There is some rubbing and fading to the lower part of the spine. Corners quite sharp. There is a slight forward lean to the binding. Spine tight. Page block edges clean. Internally also very good, with no inscriptions and just some very sporadic light foxing. There is some loss at the top edge of the Chapter One heading page, but no loss of text (please see scans). No other creases or tears. No dustwrapper. ***194mm x 130mm. 348 pages plus three pages of publisher's adverts at the back of the book. ***'"A Handful of Dust" is a novel by the British writer Evelyn Waugh. First published in 1934, it is often grouped with the author's early, satirical comic novels for which he became famous in the pre-World War II years. Commentators have, however, drawn attention to its serious undertones, and have regarded it as a transitional work pointing towards Waugh's Catholic postwar fiction. The protagonist is Tony Last, a contented but shallow English country squire, who, having been betrayed by his wife and seen his illusions shattered one by one, joins an expedition to the Brazilian jungle, only to find himself trapped in a remote outpost as the prisoner of a maniac. Waugh incorporated several autobiographical elements into the plot, including his own recent desertion by his wife. In 1933-34 he travelled into the South American interior, and a number of incidents from the voyage are incorporated into the novel. Tony's singular fate in the jungle was first used by Waugh as the subject of an independent short story, published in 1933 under the title "The Man Who Liked Dickens". The book's initial critical reception was modest, but it was popular with the public and has never been out of print. "A Handful of Dust" first appeared in Harper's Bazaar, as a serial in five installments during the summer of 1934, using the alternative, non-Brazilian ending. The complete novel was first published in book form in London, on 4th September 1934, by Chapman and Hall. It was an immediate success with the British public, and within four weeks had reached its fifth impression. In the years since publication the book's reputation has grown; it is generally considered one of Waugh's best works, and has more than once figured on unofficial lists of the 20th century's best novels. Waugh had converted to Roman Catholicism in 1930, after which his satirical, secular writings drew hostility from some Catholic quarters. He did not introduce overtly religious themes into "A Handful of Dust", but later explained that he intended the book to demonstrate the futility of humanist values, as distinct from those of a religious (especially Catholic) nature. The book has been dramatised for radio, stage and screen.' (Wiki) ***A fifth impression of the true first edition, published just four weeks after the first impression, in the original publisher's attractive boards, in very nice original condition. A nice early impression of one of Evelyn Waugh's most popular novels. ***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.…