In Exceptional Condition

Fermor, Patrick Leigh & Craxton, John (Illus.) ~ A Time to Keep Silence

First UK Printing : John Murray, London : 1957

The First UK Printing published by John Murray, London in 1957. 8vo., bright red publisher's cloth, titles gilt to upper board, backstrip lettered in gilt with publisher's device to foot; together in the vibrant pictorial wrapper featuring a wraparound image by Peter Todd Mitchell; containing three chapter head B/W drawings by John Craxton, along with 8 full-page black and white photographs; The BOOK essentially a Fine copy, virtually unread, with some pages unopened; the near Fine WRAPPER with just a hint of toning and rubbing at the extremities and folds. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. The first UK trade issue, preceded by the Queen Anne Press limited edition. An exposition of the monasteries of the Abbey of Saint Wandrille, Solesmes Abbey and La Grande Trappe, along with the abandoned rock monasteries of Cappadocia near Urgub, which Fermor visited during the 1950s. At the first, he recounts the Abbey's great collection of art, at the second the importance of Gregorian chant, and at Cappadocia he attempts to trace the lives of the earliest Christian anchorites. A relatively short work limited to some 95 pages, the author further explores his personal journey, and the meaning of silence and solitude in modern life. “In the seclusion of a cell", Fermor writes, "-an existence whose quietness is only varied by the silent meals, the solemnity of ritual, and long solitary walks in the woods-the troubled waters of the mind grow still and clear, and much that is hidden away and all that clouds it floats to the surface and can be skimmed away; and after a time one reaches a state of peace that is unthought of in the ordinary world.” A lovely copy in exceptionally scarce fine condition.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Fine
JACKET: Near Fine