Malmaison Roses

London: William Blackwood & Sons Ltd., 1961. First edition, first printing. This is a very good (or better) copy. The Susan Einzig tricolour dust wrapper is striking and has been price clipped. There are some slight handling marks, and light shelf wear. The spine is a touch sunned and there is a short closed tear to the rear flap. The boards are sharp in the publishers red buckram as issued. The text blocks are a trifle foxed, but generally clean. The author has written an inscription on the front fly leaf in blue ink. It reads: 'with Dorothy Cunningham's | regards & best wishes | remembering a very happy | Franco-British Congress | 1970'. Loosely inserted is a two-page (3 sided) enveloped ALS from the author, dated August 5th 1970. On the author's own headed paper, with her monogram to the top left, it reads: 'Dear Mrs Beard | Your husband | was so readily invested in | my world in the delightful | conversations we had | (?) from Scotland, that | I am venturing to send | you one of the few copies | left of my last published book Malmaison Roses . | I hope your great | sympathy and wise | understanding of France | and the French will see all echo | of it in this book | I have written three (or four!) | novels since Malmaison Roses came | out but my publisher, | Blackwood, has decided | not to publish anything | but (?) & adventure | so, for him, creative | imaginative | work has no appeal | (?) just now thinking to | place all imaginative study | of Coleridge s against his | (?) (?) (?) so | wish me luck. | My daughter and I did so very much enjoy meeting | you both at the very | happy Franco-British | congress & we shall hope | somehow to meet again | could you not come out here & see us someday | when you are passing | through London | with kindest regards | yours sincerely | Dorothy Beall Cunningham . This is an interesting letter, in which Beall Cunningham expresses her frustration with the contemporary state of book publishing, writing that creative, imaginative work has no appeal'. Overall, this is a very good (or better) copy of a fine signed title, which carries some beautiful artwork. Dorothy Beall Cunningham is a little-known author, and my research yields very little. She is the author of three novels published before 'Malmaison Roses', 'Wood and Iron', 'Wide White Page', and 'Driven Birds'. This title follows Marianne Forbes, a young war widow, who goes to Paris and studies to become a concert pianist.…