LLEWELLYN, Richard ~ How Green Was My Valley.

FIRST UK PRINTING. Michael Joseph Ltd., London: 1939.

Large 8vo., burgundy cloth lettered in silver to spine with publisher's device to foot; yellow endpapers; together in the unclipped printed dustwrapper (8/6 net to front flap) featuring a title design in black, red, green and white; THE BOOK near-fine, spine lightly pushed at ends; one small ring mark to the upper cover; and a couple of small marks to the endpapers and outer edges of the text block; THE WRAPPER very good, rubbed along folds with one small corner crease to front flap; spine slightly browned; chipped and torn to spine tips with some tears running into title lettering and a couple of short closed tears extending into the panels (max 3cm in length). The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. First UK edition. Llewellyn was born in 1906 in Middlesex to parents of Welsh descent, and his Welsh heritage had a large part to play in the publication of his first novel, 'How Green Was My Valley', which was preceded in 1938 by a play, 'Poison Pen'. The story, which is told from the perspective of the protagonist Huw Morgan, tells his coming-of-age story, and that of his family living and working in the Welsh mining community in the Valleys. Llewellyn claimed for the whole of his life that he was born in St Davids, West Wales. He also claimed that the plot for the novel was based on his own personal experiences, though both of these claims later turned out to be false. Instead, the story is based upon the experiences of local mining families in the village of Gilfach Goch, in southeast Wales, which he reportedly heard after travelling there with his grandfather. It has since become his best-known work, noted for its frank portrayal of the bleak and often highly dangerous conditions facing mining families in the late 19th century. Three sequels followed, and it was later adapted into a 1941 award-winning Hollywood film, directed by John Ford. Scarce in the dustwrapper.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Near Fine
JACKET: Very Good