Description

“ONE OF THE BEST I EVER WROTE”: FIRST ENGLISH EDITION OF BRIGHTON ROCK, INSCRIBED BY GRAHAM GREENE TO NOTED COLLECTOR ERIC QUAYLE

GREENE, Graham. Brighton Rock. London: William Heinemann, (1938). Octavo, original red cloth. Housed in a custom clamshell box. 

First English edition of Greene’s electrifying noir novel—“his first enquiry into the ways of man and God”—inscribed to noted book collector Eric Quayle, “For Eric Quayle from Graham Greene.” With Quayle’s Zennor bookplate and his pencil notation beneath, “Inscribed for me by Graham Greene in May, 1975. E.Q.”

Following the success of A Gun for Sale (1936), Graham Greene drew upon news stories for this pivotal noir novel about a gang led by the sadistic killer Pinkie Brown. Although Greene claimed that his unforgettable characters had no living models, it has been suggested that barmaid Ida Arnold was inspired by Mae West, whose films had been reviewed by Greene. “West’s description of herself as ‘a girl who lost her reputation but never missed it’ could be said of Ida.” Yet Brighton Rock achieves a resonance that reaches beyond a tale of gang warfare or popular thrills. “There is a battle for Pinkie’s soul between the powers of Good and Evil, as there was in the case of Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus.” Greene’s questioning of good and evil makes this “his first Catholic novel, his first enquiry into the ways of man and God… It was to lead on to Power and the Glory [1940] and End of the Affair [1951]” (Sherry I:637-649). Greene finished the novel in January 1938 and in May “worked on proofs of the American edition” (Sherry II:3). “Brighton Rock is an audacious book… It is a world of razors, bullies, poverty, false sentiments, torture and death” (Shelden, 203). Greene later noted that “Brighton Rock… is one of the best I ever wrote” (Ways of Escape). Greene co-authored the screenplay for the 1947 Boulting Brothers film starring Richard Attenborough as Pinkie—”the original sawdust Caesar, just as he is the slick-haired ted with a razor blade, Alex in A Clockwork Orange (1971)… It’s hard to locate a real tradition of homegrown [British] film noir but Brighton Rock comes close to it” (Guardian). The American edition appeared one month before this first English edition.Without very rare original dust jacket. Miller 17a. Wobbe A13b. Hubin 180. Small bookseller ticket. The recipient of this copy, Eric Quayle, was a historian and author noted for his extensive book collection. With Quayle’s notation on the front pastedown about when Greene inscribed this work beneath his Zennor, Cornwall bookplate, the location of his home Carn Cobba.

Mild scattered foxing to text, cloth with only a bit of soiling, minor mark to foot of spine. An excellent copy with impeccable provenance.