1993 A Dead Man in Deptford

Description

First Edition, Publishers' Original Binding, With Dustwrapper

A first edition, first impression.

In the original unclipped dustwrapper.

An intriguing historical fiction novel by Anthony Burgess, set in the heart of Elizabethan England, investigating the suspicious death of the playwright Christopher Marlowe, and looking into the unique life of the important figure.

Burgess is best known for his dystopian satire 'A Clockwork Orange'.

From the library at Julians Park, Hertfordshire, once the library of Audrey Pleydell-Bouverie. After being widowed at 25, Audrey married the fabulously wealthy American department store heir, Marshall Field III, later divorcing him and marrying the Honorable Peter Pleydell-Bouverie. In 1940 she bought Julians Park and redesigned the interior. Her library was impressive, with many examples of her own bookbinding.

Audrey was an extravagant socialite and renowned beauty, the illegitimate granddaughter of King Edward VII (though she was also rumoured to be his daughter, or the lover of King Edward VIII), featured in the 'Book of Beauty' by Cecil Beaton. She had many high profile friends, such as Winston Churchill, Coco Chanel, Fred Astaire, and Nancy Mitford, a sparkling hostess of the Edwardian period, her hedonistic antics bringing her into the Bright Young Things.