Books

London: Faber and Faber, 1962. London: Faber and Faber, [1962]. First edition of the author's first novel. Octavo (7 1/4 x 4 7/8 inches; 185 x 125 mm). [1]-254, [2, blank] pp. Publisher's full green cloth. Spine lettered in gilt. Cloth with some browning to edges, and foxing to boards. Endpapers and text black edges with some foxing. In original dust jacket. Jacket with light toning and some minor chipping along edges. Jacket with a 1 3/8 -inch closed tear at fold. A few light marks to front panel of jacket. Overall a very good copy. Phyllis Dorothy James [P.D. James] was a British crime novelist and public servant. "Her literary career was launched when her agent, Elaine Greene, learned from Charles Monteith, a director of Faber and Faber, that they were seeking a replacement for their leading crime novelist, Cyril Hare, who had recently died. Greene sent him the manuscript of James's first novel, Cover Her Face (1962), which she had just read. The telephone call informing James…