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PEAKE, CLARE: : UNDER A CANVAS SKY: LIVING OUTSIDE GORMENGHAST

LONDON.CONSTABLE & ROBINSON LTD.,2011.

ISBN 9781849015110.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.[Complete number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2.] FINE/FINE-.No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright, crisp,clean,matt author's b/w portrait photograph,with capitalised pale pink-lettered author's name,purple lettered title and pale pink-lettered sub-title to front panel of dw/dj; white background spine/backstrip with miniaturised thumbnail,author's b/w portrait from front's photograph,to head of spine/ backstrip with pale pink,purple and black lettering.Negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners - no nicks,tears or splits present.Majority of light creasing to head of spine/backstrip and dw/dj's top edges.Top edges clean without foxing/spotting,fore-edges with minimal thumbing; contents bright,tight,clean, solid and sound - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips.Publisher's bright,crisp, unblemished,sharp-cornered,plain white cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked bronze gilt lettering and immaculate plaine white endpapers. UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,2-243pp [paginated] includes author's introduction,28 sections/ chapters,16pp contemporary b/w biographical+ autobiographical photographs in 1 block,between pp120/21; plus [unpaginated]half-title+title pages,a dedication,a poetry verse (Mervyn Peake - The Vastest Things Are Those We May Not Learn),a preamble before the introduction and to the rear,4pp blanks. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and even internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation.It is only the exterior faults described that prevents a slightly higher grading.Despite them,it really is still an exceptional copy for its cleanliness and brightness. Clare Peake,daughter of the celebrated writer and artist Mervyn Peake,tells the story of her parents' romance and her own extraordinary childhood. Mervyn Peake was born in China,the son of medical miisionairies.After returning to England to study at the Royal Academy School,he was offered a teaching post at Westminster School of Art.There,his charismatic and unworldly appearance made a huge impression; not least on Maeve Gilmore,a seventeen-year-old sculpture student.The pair fell passionately in love and were soon married,going on to have three children together. The Peakes surrounded their children with creativity,love and laughter.Clare would often fall asleep to the voices of many of the artists and writers of the day; great friends of Maeve amd Mervyn's and frequent visitors at the family home. Their lives were forever changed when Mervyn developed Parkinson's disease at the age of forty-five,His decline was rapid and he spent time in and out of mental hospitals until his untimely death. Clare Peake writes movingly of her bohemian childhood and the impact of her father's illness,and of her mother's determination to continue giving her children the happiness she believed all children deserved. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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