Books

First editions, first impressions, of Peake's masterpiece, a cornerstone of post-war fantasy literature, hailed by Anthony Burgess as "a rich wine of fancy chilled by the intellect to just the right temperature. There is no really close relative to it in all our prose literature. It is uniquely brilliant, and we are right to call it a modern classic" (introduction to the 1998 edition). This is a notably attractive set of the trilogy, with the dust jacket for Titus Groan in the first issue, without reviews. Three works, octavo. Original red cloth, spines lettered and ruled in gilt. With dust jackets designed by author. Frontispiece to Titus Alone by author. Bindings a little bumped, faint foxing to edges, small mark to front free endpaper of Gormenghast; dust jackets lightly creased at extremities with one small nick to Titus Groan, spine of Gormenghast slightly toned, the jackets otherwise bright, fresh, and unclipped: a near-fine set in near-fine dust jackets.

The second novel in the Gormenghast series by Mervyn Peake, continuing the turbulent story of the inhabitants of Castle Gormenghast.