DRAGONWYCK - INSCRIBED

Seton, Anya

Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1944

About this Item

First Printing. Octavo (20.75cm); in Johnson's 'A' binding of rose-orange cloth, with titling and decorations stamped in burgundy on spine and front cover; dustjacket; [viii],336pp. Inscribed by the author on the front endpaper, just one month after publication: "For Gay Cole / with love from the author / Anya Seton Chase / Greenwich, Conn. Feb. 1944." Subtle offsetting from flaps onto endpapers, else a fresh, Fine copy. In the correct first printing dustjacket, with a synopsis on front flap, an ad for My Theodosia on rear flap, and the rear panel printing a biography of the author; price-clipped, gently spine-sunned and lightly edgeworn, with a few tiny tears and some faint foxing to lower rear joint; Very Good+.A novel in which a farm girl signs up to be a governess at Dragonwyck, a gloomy mansion in the Hudson River Valley. There she becomes embroiled with the world of its aristocratic owner, his young daughter, and his corpulent wife, who views her as a threat. The husband poisons his wife with oleander, marries the young governess, and hopes that she will produce him a male heir. She does, but after the baby dies of a heart defect, plans are in motion to poison her, too. Basis for Joseph Mankiewicz's 1946 film noir, starring Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, and Vincent Price. The Dark Page, Vol.1, pp.216-217; Hubin (Supplement), p.106.

Seller Inventory # 7415

Bibliographic Details

• Title: DRAGONWYCK - INSCRIBED
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston
• Publication Date: 1944
• Edition: First Edition.
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Books Into Film
  • Mystery & Detective