Gunston Cotton: A Romance of Secret Service

E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc, 1936. Hardcover. Very Good. 0x0x0. Collectible first US edition, first printing of Sir Rupert Stanley Harrington Grayson, 4th Baronet of Ravenspoint's Gunston Cotton: A Romance of Secret Service, the first in a series of 13 Gunston (Gun) Cotton spy novels, also his first to be published in the US. "FIRST EDITION" so stated on copyright page. Includes scarce dust jacket with $2.00 price intact. Archival Brodart sleeve included. From Troubador: "Born into the wealthy Liverpool shipbuilding family of Sir Henry Grayson, Rupert, leaving Harrow, joined the Irish Guards and was wounded in WWI by the shell that killed Rudyard Kipling’s son, John. He married twice, but only for a brief period of time. He roamed the world as a seafarer, author, talent scout, king’s messenger, eccentric, romantic, epicure, wit, and friend of the colourful, gifted and famous. He wrote 16 thriller novels, was made a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre by the Pope, and dodged death from a drugged-up army officer on the Moscow-Leningrad Express. He jumped ship as a seaman in New York, suspected of murdering the captain, travelled the world carrying secret documents to British embassies, and encountered the traitor-spy Kim Philby. He devised a cocktail with Scott Fitzgerald in Paris one boozy night, and discovered verses by Noel Coward in a remote guest house in Peru. His life, oiled by charm, threads through a string of enchanting interludes. He claimed to have dedicated himself ‘unselfishly and wholeheartedly to extracting as much pleasure from life as it has to offer’ – a pleasure to be shared." 320 pp. 7 3/4" x 5 3/8". Tight, unmarked copy with very light shelf wear. Unclipped dust jacket with tiny chip to head of spine panel and light fading to spine panel. A presentable copy of an early and hard-to-find spy thriller. Photographs of or additional information about this item are available on request. All inquiries answered promptly.