ROOM AT THE TOP (First edition, first impression)

John Braine

Published by Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1957

About this Item

A first impression of the first UK edition, published in 1957. Jacket designed by John Minton. ***Very good in green cloth-covered boards, with gilt titles to the spine. The gilt is still nice and bright having been protected by the dustwrapper. The boards are clean and unmarked. Head and tail slightly creased. Corners sharp. Light vertical reading crease to the spine, and very slight reading lean to the binding. Spine tight. Page block edges quite clean with light sporadic foxing to the top edge. Virtually no internal foxing, but there is some offsetting to the endpapers. No inscriptions or annotations. Pages clean and uncreased. ***In a very good original printed dustwrapper, designed by John Minton. The dustwrapper retains the original publisher's printed price of 15s net. The dustwrapper is complete, with only minimal rubbing to the edges. No creases, chips or tears except for a crease to the bottom corner of the front foldover flap. The back panel, being a white background, is slightly marked and foxed, but the dustwrapper is otherwise complete with fresh and vibrant colours. ***190mm x 130mm. 256 pages. ***'I came to Warley on a wet September morning with the sky the grey of Guiseley sandstone. I was alone in the compartment. I remember saying to myself: "No more zombies, Joe, no more zombies."' (Quote taken from the start of the novel) ***'This book is about the violence which a young man does to himself and to others in his struggle to rise above the world of his childhood. Joe Lampton, whose story it is, was brought up on the fringes of poverty and squalor in an ugly North Country town, and has emerged with one over-riding aim: to fight his way up into the bright world of money and influence. When he moves to a new town and a new job and starts to live among comfortably off, intelligent people, it looks as if the campaign is succeeding. Since he is an attractive and energetic young man, it is not long before a very pretty girl with a rich father falls in love with him. Only one thing holds him back: he is himself in love with another woman. She is older than he, her looks are beginning to fade, and she is married already. But between them an extraordinary love grows up, a passion of both the heart and the senses, in which each of them finds a fulfillment deeper than they had ever thought possible. In an idyll of four summer days their love reaches its culmination and its end; because here Joe Lampton's daemon of success takes over, and brings about the book's tragic, ironic end' (Quote taken from the introduction to the book). ***A first impression of the true first edition of John Braine's famous debut novel - in very good original condition with the above noted faults. The book quickly went into a number of impressions, and first impressions in their attractive John Minton designed dustwrappers are getting very hard to find now. This is a well presented example of the true first edition of this landmark novel - now over 60 years old. ***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.

Seller Inventory # 8764x

Bibliographic Details

• Title: ROOM AT THE TOP (First edition, first impression)
• Publisher: Eyre & Spottiswoode, London
• Publication Date: 1957
• Language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: John Minton (Jacket design)
• Edition: First Edition
• Printing: First Impression
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literature
  • First Editions