The Habit of Being: Letters.: Edited and with an Introduction by Sally Fitzgerald.
by O'CONNOR, Flannery
- Used
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
London, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux,, 1979. Robert Giroux's copy, with thanks from the editor and dedicatee First edition, first printing, presentation copy, inscribed by the editor on the front free endpaper, "For Bob, most patient of publishers, and dear friend, Sally. New York 15 March 1979". Loosely inserted is an autograph letter signed to Giroux from Regina Clive, Flannery O'Connor's mother and the dedicatee of this title. Sally Fitzgerald met O'Connor in the autumn of 1949, when the author boarded at her Connecticut home while finishing Wise Blood (1952). Fitzgerald, a "homemaker and occasional book reviewer who once considered a nun's life" (Woo), became the young writer's confidant, editor, and eventually her literary steward. O'Connor and Giroux were both godparents of Fitzgerald's third child, and after O'Connor's death in 1964, Giroux asked Fitzgerald to edit her letters. Though self-effacing in both her introduction and interviews, Fitzgerald won the confidence of Regina Clive, which was no small feat, and is today considered the pre-eminent O'Connor scholar. Regina Clive's letter begins, "Dear Bob, I was very pleased that you wanted me to autograph your book. My pen wasn't working very well so please excuse that". She goes on to thank Giroux for sending reviews and asks him to extend her thanks to Peggy Miller, Roger Straus's secretary of more than forty years and a lynchpin of the publishing house. Octavo. Original black cloth, spine and front cover lettered and ruled in gilt with publisher's device in green, top edge yellow. With dust jacket. Spine ends just bumped, boards slightly bowed, faint glue marks from binding on rear joint, small mark at lower edge; jacket lightly toned, a few nicks and creases at edges, unclipped: a near-fine copy in like jacket.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Peter Harrington (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 169315
- Title
- The Habit of Being: Letters.
- Author
- O'CONNOR, Flannery
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Place of Publication
- New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux,
- Date Published
- 1979
Terms of Sale
Peter Harrington
All major credit cards are accepted. Both UK pounds and US dollars (exchange rate to be agreed) accepted. Books may be returned within 14 days of receipt for any reason, please notify first of returned goods.
About the Seller
Peter Harrington
Biblio member since 2006
London
About Peter Harrington
Since its establishment, Peter Harrington has specialised in sourcing, selling and buying the finest quality original first editions, signed, rare and antiquarian books, fine bindings and library sets. Peter Harrington first began selling rare books from the Chelsea Antiques Market on London's King's Road. For the past twenty years the business has been run by Pom Harrington, Peter's son.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Device
- Especially for older books, a printer's device refers to an identifying mark, also sometimes called a printer's mark, on the...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Inscribed
- When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....