THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE by Spark, Muriel - 1962

Philadelphia and New York: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1962. First American Edition. Cloth. Fine/Fine. 8vo, bright green cloth with black lettering on spine and cover, archival mylar-protected pictorial dust jacket (unclipped) designed by R. M. Powers, 187 pages. Dame Muriel Spark (1918-2006) was a Scottish poet, essayist; superb short story writer turned brilliant novelist. <br/> <br/> During World War II, she worked for the Foreign Office in a secret department that produced black disinformation and propaganda, which she described as "detailed truth with believable lies."<br/> <br/> Of partial Jewish descent with a Jewish father and Protestant mother, in 1954, Muriel converted to Roman Catholicism after editing the letters of Cardinal John Henry Newman. She felt that her new faith contributed to her gaining the confidence to become a novelist. She was supported in her decision by Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh. <br/> <br/> The Times in 2008 counted her as one of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945." She became well known for polished, comic prose with dark tonalities that that touched upon serious subjects and explored human foibles. <br/> <br/> Probably the auttor's best known and sixth novel is The Prime of Miss Jane Brodie (1961). In it, Jane Brodie, an overly enthusiastic spinster teacher, so enthuses over political-and-military commitment that some of her students become involved and die for their beliefs. The teacher Jane Brodie was modeled on Christina Kay, a teacher at Marcia Blaine School, which, in turn, was modeled on Spark's own James Gillespie's High School for Girls. The novel became a hit, long-running Broadway play starring Vanessa Redgrave and the 1969 film for which Maggie Smith won the Oscar for Best Actress. <br/> <br/> The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was nominated as one of Time Magazine's "100 Best English Language Novels From 1923 To 2005." Cyril Connolly 260. The Modern Library's 200 Best Novels in English since 1950.<br/> <br/> Muriel Spark's novels The Public Image (1968) and Loitering with Intent (1981) were both short-listed for The Booker Prize. Spark wrote more than 20 novels, seveeral cellections of poetry, criticism, short stories, biographies, and even a few children's books.<br/> <br/> Superior Condition!<br/> Tight, bright, clean copy. Sharp and clean dust jacket (unclipped). A few minute spots on the top of the page edges. Ownership stamp of noted collector and scholar "Donald L. Kaufmann / Faculty of English" on upper corner of free front endpaper.