About this Item
First impression of the first UK edition, published in 1960. The book was first published in the USA by Grove Press, New York, in 1958. The author's third novel, a semi-autobiographical love story. ***Very good in red cloth-covered boards with gilt titles to the spine. The boards are clean and unmarked. Bottom corner-tip of the front board slightly creased. Top edge of page block foxed. Binding straight. No reading lean to the binding. Internally also very good, with a contemporaneous owner's name and date - 'Brian Cannon 1960' - in black fountain pen ink to the top of the front free endpaper. Pages clean, with no creases or tears. ***In a very good colour-illustrated first impression dustwrapper, that has not been price-clipped, retaining the original publisher's printed price of 10s 6s (with the "s" printing error instead of the "d") net to the bottom of the front inner flap, and correctly printed 10s 6d to the bottom of the rear inner flap, as called for with the first impression dustwrapper. The dustwrapper is largely complete, with some loss to the head of the spine with some associated small tears. Small loss, rubbing and creasing and associated small tears to the tail of the spine of the dustwrapper. Small closed tear and associated creasing to the bottom edge of the front panel of the dustwrapper. Other small nicks to the edges of the dustwrapper and shallow horizontal loss to the bottom edge of the back panel of the dustwrapper. Extremities of dustwrapper creased and rubbed. Back panel of the dustwrapper discoloured and surface-marked (being a plain white background). Light brown mark to the top of the front foldover flap. Unusually for this title, the red colouring to the spine of the dustwrapper is only slightly faded. Dustwrapper bright. ***192mm x 126mm. 158 pages. ***'The author of "On the Road" and "The Dharma Bums" usually chooses to cover a large canvas, to give a great panorama of the Subterranean (or Beatnik) way of life. In this novel he does something different. He focuses sharply on one incident: the love of Leo and Mardou. It is a fierce, sweet, sad love, lived outside the boundaries of square morality, and Jack Kerouac evokes it with a vibrating intensity. Some people feel that it is the best of his novels; certainly it is the most moving.' ***'Kerouac is the chronicler - if not indeed the prophet - of the beat generation. And his picaresque, biting and sometimes mystical book (On the Road) is a required text.' (Sunday Times) ***'This man Kerouac is good --- Open him on any page and you can go, go, go.' - Lilliput (Quote and general review quotes taken from the front and back flaps of the dustwrapper) ***The book was made into the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, co-starring Leslie Caron and George Peppard. Leslie Caron played Mardou in MGM's film of the book and is shown on the front panel of the dustwrapper. ***First impression of the first UK edition - early printings of the work are very hard to find now, especially in the original dustwrapper, and most especially in first impression. Of interest to collectors of Jack Kerouac, The Beats,1960s counter-culture, and iconic American twentieth century literary first editions. ***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 # 6081
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Bibliographic Details
Title: THE SUBTERRANEANS (First UK edition - in ...
Publisher: André Deutsch, London
Publication Date: 1960
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
Edition: First UK Edition
