Thursday, July 18, 2013

William Heinemann LTD - 1944


The times between my purchasing "new" editions of The Razor's Edge are getting further and further apart; I guess that's a natural cause of owning more and more versions of the book--there are only so many left.

But I did find this one, from a British publisher in 1944. The front cover is similar to the one on the American edition of the time; sadly the back cover is just a plug for other books by Heinemann. Not only that--perhaps it was due to paper rationing at the time (this was during World War II, after all), but if you flip the dust jacket inside out, you'll find it's a cover for another book--in this case A Silver Rattle by Sylvia Thompson! No, I've never heard of it either!

On the inside page, this copy has an inscription which reads: "To Daughter--A belated 'many happy returns', from Mike, March 1945." I generally find inscriptions in my books to be inherently interesting, but I'm intrigued that a father would sign a book to his daughter with his actual name, not "Dad" or some variation. All I can say is, I hope she enjoyed it!


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