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Cover Her Face.
by James, P.D
- Used
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Palm Beach, Florida, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Faber and Faber, 1962. First edition of the author's first book. Octavo, original green cloth. Lengthily signed by the author on the title page with the added words, "P.D. James He knew with a sudden and heart-lifting certainty that they would meet again. And when that happened the right words would be found." The inscription is the final lines of this novel. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a touch of shelfwear. Jacket design by Charles Mozley. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A superior example with a nice inscription from the author. Cover Her Face was, James has said, written simply to try out her powers in fiction as a preliminary to attempting the novel proper. Its immediate success, however-snapped up at once by the prestigious British publishers Faber and Faber, and well reviewed on publication-caused her to try her hand again at the detective story, putting even more of the novel’s concern with the workings of the human mind, and indeed of the soul, into its pages. Already present in that first attempt were many of the hallmarks of her subsequent writing. There was the fastidious prose, beautifully accurate and not without complex plots Add to these qualities a gift for forward-looking storytelling and, above all, the creation of a detective you like and want to go on liking in Adam Dalgliesh, policeman and plausible poet" (Keating, 40).
Synopsis
Cover Her Face is the debut 1962 crime novel of P. D. James. It details the investigations by her poetry-writing detective Adam Dalgliesh into the death of a young, ambitious maid, surrounded by a family which has reasons to want her gone - or dead. The title is taken from a passage from John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi: "Cover her face. Mine eyes dazzle; she died young."
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Details
- Bookseller
- Raptis Rare Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 4325
- Title
- Cover Her Face.
- Author
- James, P.D
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Faber and Faber
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1962
- Keywords
- Cover Her Face first edition, P.D. James signed first edition
Terms of Sale
Raptis Rare Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed.
About the Seller
Raptis Rare Books
Biblio member since 2012
Palm Beach, Florida
About Raptis Rare Books
Founded by Matthew and Adrienne Raptis, Raptis Rare Books is an antiquarian book firm that specializes in literature, children's books, economics, photo books, signed and inscribed books, and landmark books in all fields. Our business model is simple: we strive to handle books that are in exceptional condition and to provide exceptional customer service.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- 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...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Shelfwear
- Minor wear resulting from a book being place on, and taken from a bookshelf, especially along the bottom edge.
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Morocco
- Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
- Clamshell Box
- A protective box designed for storing and preserving a bound book or loose sheets. A clamshell box is hinged on one side, with...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
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