The Prisoner of Zenda. Being the History of Three Months in the Life of an English Gentleman.

HOPE, [Sir] Anthony (1863-1933), [GIBSON, Charles Dana, illustrator].

Bristol: J.W. Arrowsmith, no date [1898]. [Adventure Novel] SIGNED ILLUSTRATED EDITION, first thus. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[2] vi; 391 [3]. With a black and white frontispiece and one further plate illustrated by Gibson. INSCRIBED by the author in black ink to the first blank: 'yours very truly | Anthony Hope Hawkins | 22nd June /99.' Contemporary cyan half calf, with raised bands, gilt titles and decoration to spine, and vellum over boards. Top edges gilt, others untrimmed, and machine-marbled endpapers. Gently toned throughout with light occasional spotting. Toned and rubbed to spine, with bumping to corners and light general wear to boards. Very good. 'The Prisoner of Zenda' is author Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins most famous novel, a swashbuckling romance which transports gentleman hero, Rudolf Rassendyll, from a comfortable London life to fast-paced adventures in Ruritania, a mythical land steeped in political intrigue. Rassendyll must impersonate the rightful king in order to rescue him from the castle Zenda, all the while facing tests of honour with the beautiful Princess Flavia, and enduring tests of strength in his encounters with the villainous Black Michael and his handsome, debonair bodyguard, Rupert of Hentzau. Basis for David O. Selznick's Oscar-nominated movie (1937), starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and David Niven. This adventure story was enjoyed by Ian Fleming as a child, and Hope's chivalrous hero is a 'literary ancestor' of the debonair British agent 007 -The Rough Guide to James Bond (2002), p.47. Item #70218

Price: £250.00