MRS. OSMOND - Rare Pristine Copy of The First Hardcover Edition/First Printing: Signed, Placed, And Dated (Shortly After Publication) by John Banville

Banville, John

ISBN 10: 0451493427 / ISBN 13: 9780451493422

Published by New York City, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2017, 2017

About this Item

1st Printing. Signed. 370 pages. Published in 2017. The author's seventeenth novel. One of John Banville's finest achievements. The first appearance of the title in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly copies that are signed on a tipped-in page. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. Presents John Banville's "Mrs. Osmond". His very own sequel to Henry James' "The Portrait of A Lady". "Thoroughly Banville's story: The narrative inventiveness, lyrical precision, and surprise of his language, the layers of emotional and psychological intensity, the subtle, dark humor. When Isabel arrives in Italy along with someone else, the novel takes off in directions that James himself would be thrilled to follow" (Publisher's blurb). "A Master whose prose gives continuous sensual delight" (Martin Amis). An absolute "must-have" title for John Banville collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed, placed, and dated (shortly after publication) in black ink-pen on the title page by the author: "John Banville 17.XI.2017 New York". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page, as copies available online are. Banville's signature is one of the most beautiful we have ever seen. This title is a contemporary classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed, placed, and post-publication dated copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing (American) available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Winner of the Booker Prize for "The Sea" in 2005. One of the greatest writers of our time. A fine copy. ISBN 0451493427.

Seller Inventory # 21697

Bibliographic Details

• Title: MRS. OSMOND - Rare Pristine Copy of The First Hardcover Edition/First Printing: Signed, Placed, And Dated (Shortly After Publication) by John Banville
• Publisher: New York City, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2017
• Publication Date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0451493427
• ISBN 13: 9780451493422
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: As New
• Signed: Signed by Author

About this title

Synopsis

From the Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Sea, a dazzling and audacious new novel that extends the story of Isabel Archer, the heroine of Henry James's The Portrait of a Lady, into unexpected territory.

Isabel Archer is a young American woman, swept off to Europe in the late nineteenth century by an aunt who hopes to round out the impetuous but naïve girl's experience of the world. When Isabel comes into a large, unexpected inheritance, she is finagled into a marriage with the charming, penniless, and—as Isabel finds out too late—cruel and deceitful Gilbert Osmond, whose connection to a certain Madame Merle is suspiciously intimate. On a trip to England to visit her cousin Ralph Touchett on his deathbed, Isabel is offered a chance to free herself from the marriage, but nonetheless chooses to return to Italy. Banville follows James's story line to this point, but Mrs. Osmond is thoroughly Banville's own: the narrative inventiveness; the lyrical precision and surprise of his language; the layers of emotional and psychological intensity; the subtle, dark humor. And when Isabel arrives in Italy—along with someone else!—the novel takes off in directions that James himself would be thrilled to follow.

About the Author

JOHN BANVILLE, the author of sixteen novels, has been the recipient of the Man Booker Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Guardian Fiction Award, the Franz Kafka Prize, and a Lannan Literary Award for Fiction. He lives in Dublin.