FIRBANK, Roland; [Charles SHANNON, DJ portrait]; [Augustus JOHN, Frontis portrait] ~ Concerning the Eccentricities of Cardinal Pierelli.

FIRST UK PRINTING. Grant Richards Ltd., London: 1926.

8vo., black publisher's cloth, lettered in gilt to upper cover and spine; housed in the original, printed, white linen-finish dustwrapper featuring a centralised portrait of the author by Charles Shannon to the upper panel; the date at foot amended to '1926', as usual, with black and white frontis portrait of the author by Augustus John; THE BOOK lightly bruised to spine tips; with slight shelf-lean; a little staining and foxing to the edges of the text block, extending to the first few pages and occasionally onto page margins throughout; a very good + copy; THE WRAPPER with some darkening to the backstrip, some rubbing, chipping and finger tears, beginning to split along spine; and one closed tear/chip to front flap; very good +. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. First edition of a reported 1000 copies printed. 'Cardinal Pirelli' was Firbank's final and most explicitly gay novel, and was published six months after the author's death, at the age of just 40 years old. It had struggled, in many ways, to reach print, due to labour unrest in the industry and the complication of publisher Grant Richards' bankruptcy, followed by the General Strike (hence the change of date on the DJ). With some describing the work as a novel 'without a plot', the story begins with Cardinal Pirelli christening a dog in his cathedral ("And thus being cleansed and purified, I do call thee 'Crack'!") and ends with the protagonist dying of a heart attack while chasing, naked, a choirboy around the pews. Understandably controversial, his American publisher declined the book, on "religious and moral grounds". A lovely copy of a fairly uncommon work.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Very Good +
JACKET: Very Good +