SPARK, Muriel ~ Not to Disturb. Signed by the author.

FIRST UK PRINTING. Macmillan, London: 1971

8vo., brown publisher's boards lined and lettered vertically in gilt to spine; together in the unclipped pictorial dustwrapper (£1.75) designed by George Hardie; THE BOOK very near fine, with faint spotting to fore-edge and endleaves, a couple of light brown marks just encroaching onto margins of text block; THE WRAPPER also near fine, some very minor toning, and some minimal rubbing to spine tips; the odd spot. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. First edition, first UK printing. This copy boldly signed by the author to the title page. 'Not to Disturb' is set in Geneva, and follows a series of servants (the butler, the porter, the handyman, the maid, etc.) in a large house in as they await the outcome of the Baron and Baroness Klopstock, who have locked themselves into their library with their young secretary Victor Passerat, and with the strict instruction that they are not to be disturbed. As the night rages on, marriages are conducted, a series of bizarre guests arrive (a prince and a Reverend on a motorbike), the baron's lunatic brother howls in the attic, and everyone waits with bated breath for the outcome. A darkly humorous novel, reportedly written by Spark after she was inspired by a real-life news report. Scarce.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Near Fine
JACKET: Near Fine