WRIGHT, Constance. Their Ships Were Broken
WRIGHT, Constance. Their Ships Were Broken. London: Dent. 1937. 8vo. First edition. Publisher’s black cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, in the alluring dust jacket signed indistinctly. The publisher’s retained copy with ‘file copy’ stamp beneath front flap, hole-punched ‘file copy’ at half-title, title page and second title, else a very good or better copy, the cloth clean and bright, the binding tight and gently rolled, with faint vertical crease to backstrip. The contents clean and fine throughout barring a file reference ‘J-2’ in ink to front endpaper. The dust jacket unclipped (7s 6d net) and complete, gently nicked along the spine tips and corners, two discreet tape repairs to the verso. Some light rubbing, but a striking volume.
The author’s second novel, ‘a long novel re-creating with minute fidelity’ the dangerous opium trade of the early part of the nineteenth century. Wright was an American author with no first-hand knowledge of the trade or the Canton setting, but contemporary reviews acclaim her attention to detail—she ‘eschews sensation for the sake of historical accuracy’ (The Age, Nov 13 1937). ‘Eccentric missionaries, epicurean merchants, sea-captains, super-cargoes, and one or two women of rich personality’ drive the plot. Uncommon in the jacket.
WRIGHT, Constance. Their Ships Were Broken. London: Dent. 1937. 8vo. First edition. Publisher’s black cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, in the alluring dust jacket signed indistinctly. The publisher’s retained copy with ‘file copy’ stamp beneath front flap, hole-punched ‘file copy’ at half-title, title page and second title, else a very good or better copy, the cloth clean and bright, the binding tight and gently rolled, with faint vertical crease to backstrip. The contents clean and fine throughout barring a file reference ‘J-2’ in ink to front endpaper. The dust jacket unclipped (7s 6d net) and complete, gently nicked along the spine tips and corners, two discreet tape repairs to the verso. Some light rubbing, but a striking volume.
The author’s second novel, ‘a long novel re-creating with minute fidelity’ the dangerous opium trade of the early part of the nineteenth century. Wright was an American author with no first-hand knowledge of the trade or the Canton setting, but contemporary reviews acclaim her attention to detail—she ‘eschews sensation for the sake of historical accuracy’ (The Age, Nov 13 1937). ‘Eccentric missionaries, epicurean merchants, sea-captains, super-cargoes, and one or two women of rich personality’ drive the plot. Uncommon in the jacket.
WRIGHT, Constance. Their Ships Were Broken. London: Dent. 1937. 8vo. First edition. Publisher’s black cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, in the alluring dust jacket signed indistinctly. The publisher’s retained copy with ‘file copy’ stamp beneath front flap, hole-punched ‘file copy’ at half-title, title page and second title, else a very good or better copy, the cloth clean and bright, the binding tight and gently rolled, with faint vertical crease to backstrip. The contents clean and fine throughout barring a file reference ‘J-2’ in ink to front endpaper. The dust jacket unclipped (7s 6d net) and complete, gently nicked along the spine tips and corners, two discreet tape repairs to the verso. Some light rubbing, but a striking volume.
The author’s second novel, ‘a long novel re-creating with minute fidelity’ the dangerous opium trade of the early part of the nineteenth century. Wright was an American author with no first-hand knowledge of the trade or the Canton setting, but contemporary reviews acclaim her attention to detail—she ‘eschews sensation for the sake of historical accuracy’ (The Age, Nov 13 1937). ‘Eccentric missionaries, epicurean merchants, sea-captains, super-cargoes, and one or two women of rich personality’ drive the plot. Uncommon in the jacket.