Jack Robinson – A Picaresque Novel

The First UK printing published by Chatto & Windus, London in 1933. 8vo., bright green cloth lettered in red to spine; together in the vibrant pictorial wrapper (unattributed), priced 7s. 6d. net to the front flap, featuring figures in a street lined with terraced houses and smoking chimneys; The BOOK a square, tight copy, some light spotting to the outer edges of the text block and prelims, else near Fine; The WRAPPER is in Very Good++ or better condition ; the upper panel remaining clean and bright, a little dulled to the spine with some light spotting and wear to edges; a couple of small nicks and tiny chips to extremities and one small rubbed area to the front panel involving the letter 'R'. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. First edition of the author's first book, written under a pseudonym. Edward FitzGerald "Gerald" Brenan was a writer who spent much of his adult life in Spain. While perhaps best known today for 'The Spanish Labyrinth' (a historical work on the background to the Spanish Civil War), Jack Robinson follows the story of a young boy who runs away from home in order to experience a bigger and more exciting world - meeting such characters as tramps, prostitutes, religious enthusiasts and colonels along the way. Brenan himself had a difficult relationship with his father, and against his father's wishes to attend Sandhurst, he instead set out with his friend John Hope-Johnstone, to walk to China. Departing in 1912, they reached Bosnia in January 1913 before running out of money and turning back. It was Hope-Johnstone who introduced Brenan to the Bloomsbury Group, and he maintained friendships and romantic relationships within the group for the rest of his life. A lovely example and very scarce in the wrapper. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.