Chatwin, Bruce

Utz with: Ephemera

ISBN: 0670824976
New York, NY: Viking Penguin Inc., 1989. First American Edition. Hardcover. "Utz is the story of Kaspar Utz. Utz is the owner of a spectacular collection of Meissen porcelain, which survived the Second World War and the years of Stalinism in Czechoslovakia, and now resides in his two-room flat in the city of Prague. Compared with the exquisite reality of his figurines, the Gestapo and Secret Police were to Utz as "creatures of tinsel." It is the colorful Harlequin, "the Trickster," with whom nondescript Utz most identifies. Utz, too, is adept at wriggling into positions of advantage, at outwitting authorities- and the love of his own Columbine was nearer than he knew." (from front flap) The final novel published (in the UK) during the lifetime of Bruce Chatwin (1940-1989), the popular & award-winning British travel writer & novelist who died tragically of AIDS at the age of only 48. A brilliant & haunting "parable for the imagination" (front flap) which was short-listed for the prestigious Booker Prize & is still acclaimed, its theme of a collector's obsession with his objects is of course one that is dear to our Third Mind hearts. Hardcover in unclipped first-issue dust jacket (with $16.95 price printed on front flap), "First American Edition" as stated on copyright page, first printing as indicated by number sequence thereon. Preceded the previous year (1988) by the first UK edition, by the time this edition was published Chatwin had passed away. We found & have retained, between pages 24-25, a clipped article-review about this novel by Sarah Gold with image of Chatwin & front cover from an unknown issue of Connoisseur magazine, two clippings, one folded once horizontally. An ingenious, poignant & rewarding Chatwin collectible classic in its penultimately rarest original form. Book in near-fine condition with very light rubbing, fading to thin edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; a bit of rubbing to black-cloth spine (with silver-gilt lettering completely bright & substantially intact); very slight bend of upper spine toward front; moderate spotting to edges of text block. Interior near-fine with large areas of residue & spot-staining to blank grey paste-downs, rear endpaper; very slight loss of grey surface paper at front paste-down (it is because of these points that we grade this volume as near-fine); miniscule bleeding of spots noted above onto side edges of a few page leaves, all of which are otherwise substantially mint. Dust jacket fine with mild rubbing, scratching to front, back covers, spine & flaps; very slight wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at thin edges & corners of same; residue (similar to interior above), browning at blank inner flaps completely invisible on fronts (& these areas will be protected so as not to leak onto inner book covers & cause any further damage as noted above to paste-downs). Ephemera fine with only slight creasing, browning at some thin edges. Near Fine / Fine. [Item #4759]

Price: $60.00