Books

First edition, first impression of the author's rare first book. "One of the first casualties of the blitz was Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor. The warehouse containing all available copies of the book was among the first to be bombed. Every copy was destroyed, cutting off Mervyn's income from that source and turning into rarities such copies as had already been sold" (John Watney, Mervyn Peake, p. 101). The exigencies of war precluded immediate reprinting and only in 1945 was the book reissued. Quarto. Original decorated paper boards with green cloth spine. With dust jacket. Illustrated throughout by Peake. Ownership inscription of front free endpaper. Jacket with some nicks, chips and closed-tears (some loss from spine), back panel toned and slightly stained, binding a little worn at tail of spine and partially split, partial offsetting to title page and final leaf of text, yet overall a good clean copy. .

Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor is a fantastical story of a captain and his crew, containing richly drawn characters by Mervyn Peake, an author known for his ability to blend the whimsical with the macabre.