Description
TWO SPECTACULAR ASSOCIATION COPIES OF THE HEART OF THE MATTER, A CENTERPIECE OF ANY GRAHAM GREENE COLLECTION: GREENE’S OWN ANNOTATED PROOF FOR THE FIRST EDITION, WITH NUMEROUS ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS IN HIS OWN HAND THROUGHOUT—SUCH AS “NOTE TO PRINTERS: FOR GOD’S SAKE GET THIS RIGHT”—TOGETHER WITH THE FIRST EDITION, INSCRIBED TO HIS EDITOR A.S. FRERE IN THE YEAR OF PUBLICATION, “WITH GRATITUDE AND AFFECTION”
GREENE, Graham. The Heart of the Matter [Author’s Corrected Proof]. WITH: The Heart of the Matter [inscribed first trade edition]. London: William Heinemann, (1948). Two volumes. [Proof]: octavo, original wrappers; [trade edition]: octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket. Housed together in custom chemises and half morocco slipcase.
Two very fine association copies of Greene’s masterpiece, The Heart of the Matter—a novel whose “presentation of scene and atmosphere is altogether brilliant” (Burgess) and a sure centerpiece for any Graham Greene collection: Greene’s own corrected proof copy for the first edition, in wrappers, with numerous substantial additions and corrections—all in the author’s hand—on virtually every page throughout, including a list of his other works, the dedication, and a heavily revised version of the Rilke quote he uses to introduce the text; offered here together with an extraordinary first trade edition of the novel, inscribed and presented by Greene to his editor and close friend Alexander Stuart Frere in the year of publication: “For Frere with gratitude and affection from Graham Greene, April 1948.”
Among Greene’s numerous substantial additions and corrections to this working proof copy of The Heart of the Matter—all in his hand—is a list of his 11 previous works labeled “Also by Graham Greene” facing the title; the dedication, “To V.G., L.C.G. & F.C.G.”; and he has heavily edited the Rilke quotation that he uses to introduce the text. Throughout the text Greene makes changes in word choice, punctuation, insertion or deletions of characters’ titles, going so far as to address the printers directly on page 251: “Note to Printers: For God’s sake get this right.” Nearly every page bears at least one marking or change by Greene, and many contain multiple edits, clear evidence of the author’s careful supervision of the editorial and printing process.
The recipient of the inscribed trade edition, Alexander Stuart Frere, was for many years the head of Heinemann and presided over the publication of many of Greene’s major works, starting with his first novel, The Man Within (1929). Greene and Frere spent many holidays together at Frere’s home in the south of France. Their relationship was so strong that when Frere was dismissed from Heinemann in the mid-1960s, Greene left the firm and followed Frere to The Bodley Head, where Frere served as an adviser. “In 1926 Frere was made a director of Heinemann and he became managing director in 1932 under the chairmanship of C.S. Evans. Their relationship was often strained but together they presented a remarkable list, which included John Galsworthy, Richard Aldington, J.B. Priestley, John Masefield, W. Somerset Maugham, Thomas Wolfe, and Graham Greene. Frere’s and Evans’s tastes were happily complementary, Frere being more in tune with younger, more ‘advanced’ writers… Frere was very opposed to what he called ‘publishing by committee.’ Trusting his own, often idiosyncratic, judgment, he encouraged his editors to do likewise. His belief in his authors was confirmed when he courageously stood trial on a criminal charge of publishing an obscene libel… It was a sensational victory and Frere was its hero. The verdict helped pave the way to the more tolerant Obscene Publications Act of 1959… After an abortive attempt to sell Heinemann to McGraw-Hill in New York [Frere] was ‘kicked upstairs’ to be president. Soon after this he felt obliged to resign—a sad end to a brilliant career. Even so, he became an adviser to The Bodley Head to which some of his most established and faithful authors followed him; they included Graham Greene, Georgette Heyer, and Eric Ambler” (ODNB). He died in 1984; Greene in 1991.
The Heart of the Matter is set in wartime Sierra Leone, where Greene worked as an intelligence officer for 14 months between 1941 and 1943. “The Heart of the Matter was enormously popular, selling more than 300,000 copies in Britain. It was also a main selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club in America. Though Greene considered the book his most serious work to date, it brought him more money than all his previous entertainments combined [Greene, of course, drew a distinction between his serious novels and his ‘entertainments’; he considered The Heart of the Matter among the former]. From 1948 until his death Greene continued to enjoy large sales, widespread critical respect, and largely favorable publicity in the mainstream press, both at home and abroad. After 19 years of hard work—in which he brought out a new book almost every year—he was established for life” (ODNB). “Of Mr. Graham Greene alone among contemporary writers one can say without affectation that his breaking silence with a new serious novel is a literary ‘event'” (Evelyn Waugh). “It is, in fact, a work of brilliant economy, very moving… Casting doubt on ecclesiastical doctrine that is specifically Catholic, the novel may be considered more sectarian than universal, but it is concerned with real human dilemmas and its presentation of scene and atmosphere is altogether brilliant” (Burgess, 40). Miller 25a. Wobbe A29a.
Proof copy without rear wrapper; front wrapper and final leaf of text separated from the text block, not entirely surprising given that this was a working copy used extensively by Greene, his editor and the printers. Trade edition book fine, dust jacket with a few small snags along edges, generally clean and quite nice. Two splendid and most desirable association copies of Greene’s masterpiece.
