Books

First collected edition, signed limited issue, number 206 of 500 copies signed by the author. Durrell decided "to correct a number of small slips pointed out by readers and critics, and also to add some small passages which were cut out of the original volumes in the MS. stage" (preface). Durrell's study of love and political intrigue in Egypt before and during the Second World War appeared as four individual novels, 1957-60. The series "elicited wildly divergent but generally favourable reviews, praising or attacking Durrell's luxuriant prose, his highly romantic recreation of Alexandria, and his self-proclaimed use of Einstein. Only with the Quartet sales did Durrell begin to live from his writing" (ODNB). Thomas & Brigmore 33a. Anthony Burgess, 99 Novels, The Best in English Since 1939, 1984. Octavo. Original orange cloth over bevelled boards, black label on gilt-lettered spine, black hand-print design within blind frame on front cover, yellow endpapers, top edge gilt. Housed in publisher's card slipcase decoratively printed in gold and black. Spine gently sunned, gilt remaining bright, slipcase a little rubbed. A near-fine copy.

Mountolive is the third volume of The Alexandria Quartet series by British author Lawrence Durrell. Set in pre-World War II Alexandria, Egypt, Mountolive is part of a sequence of novels that tell a complex story of passion, politics, and betrayal. The series is celebrated for its rich and intricately woven narrative and exploration of modern love.