Books

First edition, first impression, inscribed by Fowles on the front free endpaper; 8vo; publisher's black boards, titles to spine in gold, with the dust jacket. A lovely copy in the dust jacket. An extraordinary collaboration linking two of the greatest British authors of their generation. This copy with the signed presentation inscription to the front free endpaper, 'To Tom Who lies behind so much of this John [Fowles] 28 Sept 1981'. The recipient - who's bookplate is affixed to the front pastedown - was Tom Maschler, the editor at Cape responsible for all Fowles's output. A lovey association.

The French Lieutenant's Woman is a 1969 postmodern historical fiction novel by John Fowles. It explores the fraught relationship of gentleman and amateur naturalist Charles Smithson and Sarah Woodruff, the former governess and independent woman with whom he falls in love. The novel reflects the Victorian England period and questions the social and scientific issues of the time.