Books

London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1974. First British edition of the author's seventh novel and what many consider to be his finest. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by author on the title page, "with best wishes John le Carre" and by the author's father, "and much love from his father Ronnie July 1974." Ronald Cornwell was the father of le Carre and was a known associate of the Kray twins. The family was continually in debt. The father–son relationship has been described as "difficult". Rick Pym, a scheming con man and the father of A Perfect Spy protagonist Magnus Pym, was based on Ronnie. When his father died in 1975, Cornwell paid for a memorial funeral service but did not attend, a plot point repeated in A Perfect Spy. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. An exceptional example, rare and desirable signed by both son and father, this is the first example we have seen. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy garnered instant praise for Le Carre as "[t]he premier spy novelist of his time.…

A thrilling espionage tale that lays bare the apparatus of the Cold War.