The White Father SIGNED FIRST EDITION

Mitchell, Julian

Published by Farrar, Straus & Company, New York, 1965

About this Item

First Edition. Hardcover. Signed and inscribed to previous owner by Julian Mitchell in ink at front free endpaper. Stated First Printing. 8 1/4" X 5 1/2". 332pp. Toning, chipping, creasing, and tears to covers, corners, and edges of unclipped dust jacket. Bound in black paper over boards with spine backed in red and stamped in black. Toning and gentle bumps to corners and edges of boards. Dust-spotting to edges of text block. Foxing to endpapers. Pages are clean and unmarked. Binding is sound. *Winner of the Somerset Maugham Award* Julian Mitchell is a British playwright, screenwriter, and novelist best known for his 1981 play Another Country, which explores themes of betrayal, loyalty, and homosexuality in an English public school setting during the 1930s. The play was highly acclaimed and later adapted into a film in 1984. Mitchell has also worked extensively in television, contributing to well-regarded series such as Inspector Morse. Notably, Mitchell collaborated with Ray Davies (lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter for British rock band The Kinks) on the development of a television play called Arthur, originally intended as a co-production for Granada Television. The project focused on the life of a working-class man, Arthur, reflecting on the disillusionment and struggles of post-war Britain. Mitchell wrote the screenplay, while Davies composed a suite of songs to complement the narrative. Despite their efforts, the television production was ultimately shelved due to various logistical and creative issues. However, the collaboration was not wasted. The material Davies had written for Arthur evolved into Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), a concept album by The Kinks released in 1969. The album, often regarded as one of the first rock operas, explores themes of British identity, nostalgia, and the decline of empire, retaining much of the spirit of the original project. ABOUT THIS BOOK: '[The White Father] was to be a State of the Nation novel, about the end of Empire, contrasting the last generation of men who'd served it, and the new one which was just breaking out from the long dullness of the post-war years, but didn't really know where it was going.' Julian Mitchell, from his new Preface Mitchell's fourth novel, published in 1964, earned him both the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Somerset Maugham Award. Its protagonist Hugh Shrieve is District Officer in charge of the Ngulu, a small tribe in an African colony on the verge of independence. Fearing 'his' tribe will be overlooked in the politics of a constitutional conference set to take place in London, Hugh returns to England for the first time in years. But there he soon feels lost in his own country.(Publisher).

Seller Inventory # 16607

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The White Father SIGNED FIRST EDITION
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Company, New York
• Publication Date: 1965
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literature
  • Signed Books & Materials