Together in the scarce Michael Ayrton Dustwrapper.

SARTRE, Jean-Paul ~ The Age of Reason.

FIRST UK PRINTING. Hamish Hamilton, London: 1947.

8vo., red speckled publisher's cloth, backstrip lettered in gilt; together in the striking pictorial dustwrapper (unclipped, 10s. net) by Michael Ayrton, depicting two figures in conversation; THE BOOK very good, a little pushed at spine tips; endpapers lightly offset; with some faint spotting and marking to the fore-edge; small patch of front endpaper sometime stuck and pulled onto front paste-down, with a small strip lost; THE WRAPPER also very good, evenly toned and marked with some rubbing to folds and some light chipping to ends of spine and flaps; one small hole (1cm in length) to spine; fragile, though completely unrestored internally. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. First UK edition, first printing. The first work in Jean-Paul Sartre's 'Roads to Freedom' trilogy, originally published in 1945 by Gallimard. The series was originally intended to be a tetralogy, but was left incomplete upon the author's death in 1980. The fourth, unfinished volume was later published posthumously in 1981. 'The Age of Reason' covers the period of some 48 hours in the protagonist Mathieu's life as a teacher of Philosophy, and is set against the backdrop of Paris's nightlife. In many ways written as a response to the Nazi occupation of France, Sartre follows Mathieu as he experiences a crisis of identity, and many believe the work to be semi-autobiographical (Sartre was called to the French army in 1939, and spent the next few years away from his beloved Paris). This, the first UK edition is greatly enhanced by the thoughtful dustwrapper, designed by the illustrator Michael Ayrton. Ayrton was himself well-placed to pair with Sartre's existentialist work. Predominantly a painter, he settled for a while in Paris, where he shared a studio with John Minton, and his post-war works are known for their dark, sombre colours, in many ways his own attempts to process the trauma and isolating effects of the war. Very scarce with the wrapper.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Very Good
JACKET: Very Good