One of the authors scarcest titles

Maclaren-Ross, J. ~ Until the Day She Dies

Hamish Hamilton, London : 1960

The First UK printing published by Hamish Hamilton, London in 1960. 8vo., bright red cloth lettered in silver to spine with the publisher's device to the foot; together in the unclipped photographic wrapper (12s. 6d. net), featuring an image from the Oxford Mail; The BOOK is in near Fine condition with some very mild pushing to the spine tips; a couple of spots to the outer edge, faint offsetting and very light spotting to the end-papers; The notoriously fragile WRAPPER is unrestored and in Very Good condition with light edge-wear, a couple of small closed tears to the lower panel; some heavier creasing and a couple of longer tears to the head of spine and upper front panel, the longest being 3cm in length. The wrapper is protected and presents well in a removable Brodart archival cover. The British writer and literary critic Julian Maclaren-Ross (1912–1964) was born in London, and moved with his family to France in 1921. There, he received his education, but by the age of 21 had returned to the UK, determined to become a writer. During this time, he worked as a door-to-door salesman, writing radio plays in his spare time, one of which was broadcast by the BBC. His first break was with the short story 'A Bit of a Smash in Madras', which was published in 'Horizon' in 1940. Horizon continued to publish his work throughout the war, and short sketches by Maclaren-Ross, many of them satirical, began to appear in other publications including 'Penguin New Writing' and 'English Story'. Imprisoned for desertion, he later went on to work with Dylan Thomas as a scriptwriter on propaganda documentaries, and then became a literary critic for the TLS. 'Until the Day She Dies' was published towards the middle of his long career, after a period of homelessness, drug use, and further prison terms. Originally a series of radio plays on the 'Light Programme' and later adapted into this novel, the thrilling plot follows a detective story writer who meets a girl on a train and later discovers she is about to be murdered. The author passed away just four years after the book was published. One of the authors scarcest titles to find in the wrapper.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Near Fine
JACKET: Very Good