First edition of this contemporary literary classic and "an accomplished psychological thriller.absolutely chilling" (Village Voice). Octavo, original illustrated boards. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, "To Diana- warm regards- Donna Tartt." Additionally signed four times by jacket designer Chip Kidd; on the front panel book, on the front panel of the dust jacket, on the half-title page and rear panel of the jacket. Near fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket. Jacket design by Chip Kidd and Barbara De Wilde. Rare and desirable. Under the influence of a charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at a New England college discover a way of thought and life a world away from their banal contemporaries. But their search for the transcendent leads them down a dangerous path, beyond human constructs of morality. � A remarkably powerful novel [and] a ferociously well-paced entertainment. Forceful, cerebral, and impeccably controlled" (The New York Times).