Seldom found with the wraparound band

Murray. D. L. ~ Tale of Three Cities. A Novel in Baroque

First UK Printing : Hodder and Stoughton Limited, London : 1940

Thick 8vo., bright red boards lettered and lined in black to upper cover and spine; complete in both the illustrated dust wrapper by Bip Pares, and the rare Book Society wraparound band; with full-page black and white illustrations by Pares to begin each ‘Book’ heading; THE BOOK with some minor bruising to spine, offsetting to paste downs and spotting to the outer edge of the text block and prelims; else a very good copy in the vivid WRAPPER which has some faint spotting, particularly to the lower panel; a little rubbed, particularly at spine tips; and with some creasing to the upper edge of the front panel (one small closed tear); also very good. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. First UK edition of this Historical Romance, set during the Franco-Prussian War. A weighty tome covering some 640 pages, Murray’s plot follows Deodato, a foundling, who escapes the religious order to which he had been assigned in order to pursue his love of sculpture, and incidentally the beautiful Ludovica, in whom he sees the likeness of Bernini’s most famous sculpture. He follows a devious trail, with the protection of Napoleon III discovering his father's identity, as well as becoming embroiled in political intrigue. The illustrator Ethel ‘Bip’ Pares created some of the most eye-catching designs of the nineteen-thirties and forties. Striking in particular for their use of colour, books which carry her dust wrappers are highly collectible, and it is said that she designed almost 600 during the course of her career. This example is particularly charming, and seldom found with the wraparound.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Very Good
JACKET: Very Good