CHEKE, Marcus. Papillée. London: Faber and Gwyer. 1927. 8vo. First edition. Publisher’s brown cloth boards lettered in gilt to the spine, in the dust jacket with charming central motif by Elizabeth Pyke. A very good copy. The cloth clean, with one nick to cloth at foot. The binding tight and gently rolled, the topstain bright, other edges untrimmed. Some mild toning to endpapers and very occasional singular spots, but clean overall. The dust jacket neatly cut at all four flap corners, printed price of 5s net to spine. Small chip around spine head with some short nicks and closed tears.
A diplomatic adventure set during the French Directoire which governed the First Republic after the Reign of Terror and until Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew it. Cheke was later a British diplomat across much of Europe, mostly in Lisbon, and this, his first novel published just as he was entering the world of politics—he shortly thereafter stood as Liberal MP for the New Forest & Christchurch constituency but was defeated—might have been a precursor to the professional life he pursued. He published a handful of other novels with similar themes. The dust jacket designer is Elizabeth Pyke, perhaps better known as a poster designer, and as such this represents one of only a handful of such commissions in the medium. Scarce in dust jacket.
CHEKE, Marcus. Papillée. London: Faber and Gwyer. 1927. 8vo. First edition. Publisher’s brown cloth boards lettered in gilt to the spine, in the dust jacket with charming central motif by Elizabeth Pyke. A very good copy. The cloth clean, with one nick to cloth at foot. The binding tight and gently rolled, the topstain bright, other edges untrimmed. Some mild toning to endpapers and very occasional singular spots, but clean overall. The dust jacket neatly cut at all four flap corners, printed price of 5s net to spine. Small chip around spine head with some short nicks and closed tears.
A diplomatic adventure set during the French Directoire which governed the First Republic after the Reign of Terror and until Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew it. Cheke was later a British diplomat across much of Europe, mostly in Lisbon, and this, his first novel published just as he was entering the world of politics—he shortly thereafter stood as Liberal MP for the New Forest & Christchurch constituency but was defeated—might have been a precursor to the professional life he pursued. He published a handful of other novels with similar themes. The dust jacket designer is Elizabeth Pyke, perhaps better known as a poster designer, and as such this represents one of only a handful of such commissions in the medium. Scarce in dust jacket.
