POSSESSED OF A PAST: A JOHN BANVILLE READER (First edition - first impression)

First impression of the true first edition, with the full number-string sequence including the no. "1": 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 on the printer's page. ***Very good in black cloth-covered boards with silver titles to the spine. The boards are clean and unmarked. Head and tail of spine slightly creased. Corners sharp. No reading lean to the binding. Spine tight. A few top page corner-tips are slightly creased. A couple of very small abrasions and marks to the edge of the page block, not affecting the interior pages. Internally also very good with no inscriptions. Pages clean. No creases or tears. Illustrated endpapers. ***In a very good monochrome-illustrated dustwrapper, which has not been price-clipped, retaining the original publisher's printed price of £14.99. The dustwrapper is complete, with just the extremities slightly rubbed and creased, mainly at the top and tail of the spine. No fading. No chips or tears. Dustwrapper bright. ***244mm x 160mm. 502 pages. ***'William John Banville (born 8 Dec 1945) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, adapter of dramas and screenwriter. Though he has been described as "the heir to Proust, via Nabokov", Banville himself maintains that W. B. Yeats and Henry James are the two real influences on his work. Banville has won the 1976 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the 2005 Booker Prize, the 2011 Franz Kafka Prize, the 2013 Austrian State Prize for European Literature and the 2014 Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2007, Italy made him a Cavaliere of the Ordine della Stella d'Italia (essentially a knighthood) in 2017. (Wiki) ***The material collected here is a treasure trove, a fine retrospective and a comprehensive guide to the work of Ireland's greatest living novelist, John Banville. ***Selections are drawn from all of his novels, up to and including 2012's Ancient Light; each piece standing alone, short story-like, but also resonating with those around it and representing the novel from which it comes. There are radio plays, some published in print for the first time here. There is a judicious selection of his essays and reviews. Perhaps most beguiling of all are the pieces of memoir, the early work (including Banville's first-ever piece of published fiction from 1966) and the chance to see facsimiles of the handwritten first draft of the opening section of The Infinites. ***Possessed of a Past is an extraordinary document of the writer's life and work across nearly fifty years of practice, simultaneously offering the perfect introduction to Banville's sublime art and manna to devoted readers.' (Quote taken from the front flap of the dustwrapper) ***First impression of the true first edition, in its original dustwrapper in nice 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.…