BRAMWELL, James. Going West. London: Cobden Sanderson. 1935. 8vo. First edition. Publisher’s cream cloth lettered in black to the spine, in the striking dust jacket designed by Ian Fenwick. The book very good, rubbed at board corners and some edges but clean, the binding tight and with a gentle roll. The contents largely fine with ink gift inscription to the front endpaper, two or three pages with a few tiny closed tears at edges. The dust jacket unclipped (7s 6d net) with several small closed tears and chips around the spine head and tail, gently bumped and marked and the rear panel slightly toned. A presentable copy.
A pleasing example of this Utopian fantasy, a sort of precursor to magical realism, in which the world goes awry when the Creator becomes dissatisfied with his creation, inciting a new island to rise in the Mediterranean. A debut novel from Bramwell, who was a member of the Oxford Union, various peace pledge groups, and a conscientious objector in the Second World War, who served as teacher, firefighter and later in medical corps. The Imperial War Museum has a wonderful and lengthy audio interview available, which gives insight as to his political motive. Of equal interest is the dust jacket designer, Ian Fenwick. Fenwick was educated at Cambridge, pursuing an art career in Leicester and later Berlin. He worked as an illustrator, appearing in most of the major comic illustration publications of the day, including Punch and Men Only. When war broke out, he was quickly enlisted as an intelligence officer, joining the SOE in 1942 and later the SAS as a Major. He was killed in action after parachuting into France. Uncommon.
BRAMWELL, James. Going West. London: Cobden Sanderson. 1935. 8vo. First edition. Publisher’s cream cloth lettered in black to the spine, in the striking dust jacket designed by Ian Fenwick. The book very good, rubbed at board corners and some edges but clean, the binding tight and with a gentle roll. The contents largely fine with ink gift inscription to the front endpaper, two or three pages with a few tiny closed tears at edges. The dust jacket unclipped (7s 6d net) with several small closed tears and chips around the spine head and tail, gently bumped and marked and the rear panel slightly toned. A presentable copy.
A pleasing example of this Utopian fantasy, a sort of precursor to magical realism, in which the world goes awry when the Creator becomes dissatisfied with his creation, inciting a new island to rise in the Mediterranean. A debut novel from Bramwell, who was a member of the Oxford Union, various peace pledge groups, and a conscientious objector in the Second World War, who served as teacher, firefighter and later in medical corps. The Imperial War Museum has a wonderful and lengthy audio interview available, which gives insight as to his political motive. Of equal interest is the dust jacket designer, Ian Fenwick. Fenwick was educated at Cambridge, pursuing an art career in Leicester and later Berlin. He worked as an illustrator, appearing in most of the major comic illustration publications of the day, including Punch and Men Only. When war broke out, he was quickly enlisted as an intelligence officer, joining the SOE in 1942 and later the SAS as a Major. He was killed in action after parachuting into France. Uncommon.
