BOTTOME, Phyllis. Level Crossing
BOTTOME, Phyllis. Level Crossing. London: The Bodley Head. 1936. 8vo. First edition. Publisher’s yellow cloth lettered in black to the spine, with attractive illustrated endpapers and matching dust jacket designed by the often overlooked British illustrator, James Holland. An about very good copy, the cloth a little stained at the spine head and tail, and at the corners. The binding just slightly weakened, square, the publisher’s yellow topstain vivid though with several light stains. The contents clean and fine but for a few occasional stains. The dust jacket fair, unclipped (7s 6d net) with several chips along spine head, corners and some much smaller nicks and chips to most edges. The panels grubby, but uncommon in the jacket.
A suspenseful psychological thriller involving a young couple who suffer at the hands of a kidnapper. Bottome was a best-selling author in her day, friends with Cyril Connolly and Ian Fleming—whom some argue took inspiration when creating his Bond character from a character in another novel by Bottome. Many of Bottome’s novels contain elements of psychology and for good reason—she studied Psychology under the tutelage of Alfred Adler in Vienna after recovering from tuberculosis. They often also had thrilling themes; her husband was the British spy, Ernan Forbes Dennis.
Likely the first dust jacket commission for James Holland, who would’ve not long before graduated from the Royal College of Art—Paul Nash was his tutor. Today overshadowed by his contemporaries—Edward Bawden, Henry Moore, Barnett Freeman, etc. —Holland produced various illustrations for advertisements and dailies, and became an associate of Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell after his first exhibition.
BOTTOME, Phyllis. Level Crossing. London: The Bodley Head. 1936. 8vo. First edition. Publisher’s yellow cloth lettered in black to the spine, with attractive illustrated endpapers and matching dust jacket designed by the often overlooked British illustrator, James Holland. An about very good copy, the cloth a little stained at the spine head and tail, and at the corners. The binding just slightly weakened, square, the publisher’s yellow topstain vivid though with several light stains. The contents clean and fine but for a few occasional stains. The dust jacket fair, unclipped (7s 6d net) with several chips along spine head, corners and some much smaller nicks and chips to most edges. The panels grubby, but uncommon in the jacket.
A suspenseful psychological thriller involving a young couple who suffer at the hands of a kidnapper. Bottome was a best-selling author in her day, friends with Cyril Connolly and Ian Fleming—whom some argue took inspiration when creating his Bond character from a character in another novel by Bottome. Many of Bottome’s novels contain elements of psychology and for good reason—she studied Psychology under the tutelage of Alfred Adler in Vienna after recovering from tuberculosis. They often also had thrilling themes; her husband was the British spy, Ernan Forbes Dennis.
Likely the first dust jacket commission for James Holland, who would’ve not long before graduated from the Royal College of Art—Paul Nash was his tutor. Today overshadowed by his contemporaries—Edward Bawden, Henry Moore, Barnett Freeman, etc. —Holland produced various illustrations for advertisements and dailies, and became an associate of Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell after his first exhibition.
BOTTOME, Phyllis. Level Crossing. London: The Bodley Head. 1936. 8vo. First edition. Publisher’s yellow cloth lettered in black to the spine, with attractive illustrated endpapers and matching dust jacket designed by the often overlooked British illustrator, James Holland. An about very good copy, the cloth a little stained at the spine head and tail, and at the corners. The binding just slightly weakened, square, the publisher’s yellow topstain vivid though with several light stains. The contents clean and fine but for a few occasional stains. The dust jacket fair, unclipped (7s 6d net) with several chips along spine head, corners and some much smaller nicks and chips to most edges. The panels grubby, but uncommon in the jacket.
A suspenseful psychological thriller involving a young couple who suffer at the hands of a kidnapper. Bottome was a best-selling author in her day, friends with Cyril Connolly and Ian Fleming—whom some argue took inspiration when creating his Bond character from a character in another novel by Bottome. Many of Bottome’s novels contain elements of psychology and for good reason—she studied Psychology under the tutelage of Alfred Adler in Vienna after recovering from tuberculosis. They often also had thrilling themes; her husband was the British spy, Ernan Forbes Dennis.
Likely the first dust jacket commission for James Holland, who would’ve not long before graduated from the Royal College of Art—Paul Nash was his tutor. Today overshadowed by his contemporaries—Edward Bawden, Henry Moore, Barnett Freeman, etc. —Holland produced various illustrations for advertisements and dailies, and became an associate of Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell after his first exhibition.