Books

Octavo, pp. [1-5] 6-7 [8] 9-438 [439-440: blank] [note: last leaf is a blank], original red cloth, spine panel stamped in gold. First edition. Peake's first novel and the first book of the unfinished "Gormenghast" sequence. The whole "is perhaps the most intensely visual fantasy ever written. It is like a Gothic fantasy stripped of all plot accretions, of all intrusions of the supernatural, until only impacted ambiance remains. It is something of a masterpiece, and is certainly sui generis." - Clute and Grant (eds), The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997), p. 749. Barron (ed), Fantasy Literature 3-285. Cawthorn and Moorcock, Fantasy: The 100 Best Books 64. Manlove, Modern Fantasy, pp. 207-57. Pringle, Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels 1. Schlobin, The Literature of Fantasy 867. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature IV, pp. 1947-53. Reginald 11248. Neat owner's signature and "Glasgow 1946" on front free endpaper. A fine copy in very good plus first state dust jacket (printed price "15s/Net" on front flap; no "Second / Impression" statement and no extracts from six book reviews printed on front flap; ) with light wear at spine ends, some age-darkening to spine panel and along rear flap fold, and dust soiling to rear panel. Presents well overall. (#130773).

Titus Groan is the first novel in the Gormenghast series by Mervyn Peake. It tells the story of the eponymous castle, the Groan family who inhabits it, and the servants and retainers who fill its halls. It paints a richly detailed picture of a gothic landscape and the bizarre rituals and traditions that dominate the lives of its characters.