Maschler, Tom

Tom Maschler: Publisher

ISBN: 0330484206
London, England: Picador/ Pan Macmillan Ltd., 2005. First Edition. Hardcover. "At the end of the millennium, the leading industry magazine, The Bookseller, selected the ten people who had most influenced its century. Tom Maschler- described as 'the most important publisher in Britain; the most innovative, adventurous, and newsworthy'- was one of them; it went on to say that for nearly twenty years, 'he made publishing glamorous and the aura he created for the trade is, even now, not totally dimmed.' Over the course of his career, Maschler worked alongside Martin Amis, Bruce Chatwin, Roald Dahl, Joseph Heller, Doris Lessing, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ian McEwan, Desmond Morris, Philip Roth and Kurt Vonnegut, amongst very many others...Maschler's memoir gives a rare glimpse into an extraordinary world, offering a candid account of the authors and agents, the successes, failures and enduring friendships from the golden days of British publishing." (from front flap) The memoir-autobiography of Thomas Maschler (1933-2020), the Berlin-born Austrian-Jewish refugee from the Holocaust who became among the most important figures in British publishing from the mid-20th century. As noted in flap copy quoted above, Maschler worked with the greatest British, American & other authors- & his relations with these literary icons are excitingly recounted in this wonderful work. With delightful illustrations throughout by Quentin Blake (b. 1932), the acclaimed British illustrator; & with two glossy sections of captioned historical photographs of Maschler, his family & in the company of many literary celebrities. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first UK edition (we are not aware of any American edition), first printing as indicated by number sequence on copyright page. From the collection of Allen Tobias, assistant to Allen Ginsberg beginning in the 1960s, curator, critic, all-around Man of Letters & our good friend & colleague at the European Beat Studies Network (ebsn.eu). A fascinating collectible in its rarest original form, quite scarce on this side of the pond & with distinguished provenance. Book in very fine condition with only a touch of wear & a few tiny bumps to edges & corners of front, back covers & esp. spine; very light browning & occasional rubbing to edges of text block. Interior very fine with just a hint of browning mostly to blank margins/edges of page leaves. Dust jacket very fine with only very light rubbing, faint scratching to front, back covers & spine; a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same & flaps; one short but pronounced angled crease at/near upper right corner of front flap in blank white area, ending at right edge in a tiny bump. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #5415]

Price: $40.00