"Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it."
— P.J. O'Rourke
Lawrence Durrell | First Editions
1912 - 1990
Lawrence George Durrell (27 February 1912 – 7 November 1990) was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer. He is most remembered for his series, The Alexandria Quartet - particularly the first of the quartet's four novels, Justine. Durrell was a close personal friend of the novelist Henry Miller, and collaborated with writers such as Anaïs Nin and Alfred Perles.
Durrell's novel, The Black Book: An Agon, faced some controversy when published in Paris in 1938. The mildly pornographic work did not appear in Britain in 1973. In the story, the main character Lawrence Lucifer struggles to escape the spiritual sterility of dying England, and gravitates toward Greece's warmth and fertility.
See below our stock of Lawrence Durrell First Editions and signed copies.
Results 1 - 9 (of 9)
![Balthazar. [Alexandria Quartet]. Lawrence DURRELL, 1912–1990](/pictures/thumb/57518.jpg?v=1598029146)
Balthazar. [Alexandria Quartet].
London: Faber and Faber, 1958. [Modern Literature] FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, without reviews to jacket. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.250 [6]. Publisher's blue cloth with gilt titles to spine. With the grey illustrated dust-jacket. A crisp, clean copy internally, with some light chipping to jacket edges, toning to jacket spine..... More
The Black Book
Paris: Olympia Press 1969. FIRST OLYMPIA PRESS EDITION. The Traveller's Companion Series, n°77. Pp.301; [1], blank; [1], advertisement; [1], blank; [1], imprint; [1], blank. Publisher's green paper binding, glossy pictorial jacket. Minor toning to text block, trivial nicks to jacket; a clean, fine copy. The author's first novel, not published..... More
The Ikons, and Other Poems.
London: Faber and Faber, 1966. [Poetry] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp. 48. Publisher's blue cloth with gilt titles to spine. With the yellow and blue typographic dust-jacket, priced at 13/6. Slight offsetting to endpapers. Jacket a little rubbed to edges, and gently toned to spine. Near fine... More
Mountolive.
London: Faber and Faber, 1958. [Modern fiction] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.320. Publisher's yellow cloth with gilt titling and purple decoration to spine. Pictorial dust-jacket priced at 16s net. Some spotting to first and last few leaves, otherwise internally clean, ownership inscription to flyleaf and bookplate and a...... More
![A Persian Lady [Broadside Poem]. Lawrence DURRELL, 1912–1990](/pictures/thumb/58973.jpg?v=1612373707)
A Persian Lady [Broadside Poem].
Edinburgh: The Tragara Press, no date [1963]. [Broadside Poem] FIRST SEPARATE EDITION, a trial proof. A single sheet of Saunders paper (37 x 23cm), printed by Alan Anderson (1922-2016) by hand on his Crown Folio Arab Press. Apparently separate from the six copies officially printed, as per hand-written note to..... More
Sicilian Carousel.
London: Faber and Faber, 1977. [Sicilian Travel] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (23 x 15cm), pp.223 [1]. With four illustrated plates, including a frontispiece, and a sketch-map of the island. Publisher's red cloth with silver titles to spine. With the dust-jacket titled in red, priced at £5.25. Jacket spine a little toned..... More
The Tree of Idleness, and other poems.
London: Faber and Faber, 1955. [Poetry] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (23 x 15cm), pp.48. Publisher's purple cloth with gilt titles to spine. With the green typographic dust-jacket, priced at 8/6. Some offsetting to endpapers. Jacket a little toned to spine, with some rubbing and a couple of small closed tears. Near..... More
Vega, and Other Poems.
London: Faber and Faber, 1973. [Poetry] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.54 [2]. Publisher's grey cloth with gilt titles to spine. With the blue typographic dust-jacket, priced at £1.40. Some light handling; a lovely fine copy. More
The Accursed, Two Diabolical Tales.
London: George Allen & Unwin, 1967. [Strange Tales] FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.287 [1]. Publisher's dark brown cloth with red titles to spine. Top edge red. With the dust-jacket featuring a blue and orange ravening wolf, priced at 28s. Also with a contemporary Book Society membership..... More
Results 1 - 9 (of 9)