Buy this book on-line

Prokosch, Frederic : The Missolonghi Manuscript

Farrar, Straus And Giroux, New York, 1962

338pp. Lord Byron spent the last months of his life in the village of Missolonghi in Greece, where he died, at age 36, in 1824. The three notebooks that are here presented as The Missolonghi Manuscript are the memoirs of a dying man who has decided to review his whole life as honestly as possible for his own satisfaction, 8vo, Very Good in Very Good DJ

1st Edition

PROKOSCH, FREDERIC: : THE MISSOLONGHI MANUSCRIPT

LONDON.W.H. ALLEN & COMPANY,1968.

ISBN No ISBN.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn. FINE-/FINE-. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright, crisp,clean,glossy,wrap-around dark blue background with subject author [Lord Byron] monochrome oval portrait illustration to front of dw/dj,with capitalised gold coloured lettered title along front's top edge and author's capitalised,white-lettered name along front's lower edge.Spine/backstrip with similarly coloured+lettered author name+title name as the front's,and publisher's capitalised,white-lettered+illustrated name and colophon respectively,to foot of same; rear panel with front's repeated desihn/illustration and lettering.Negligible shelf-wear to edges and corners - no nicks, tears or splits present.Top+ fore-edges unusually bright,crisp and clean with very minimal ageing/toning and almost no foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - virtuall pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,would appear unread other than my collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,original plain blue cloth boards with very minimal fade along top edges; non-oxidised bright,crisp,blocked gilt lettering to spine/backstrip and minimally blemished,plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj, 1st edn,3-338pp [paginated] includes author's Foreword,2 letters [Marchesa del Rosso, 10, Piazza Navona - 15 September 1965 and Colonel Eppingham, 23,Via Cassia - 10 October 1959, sections in 3 Notebooks form; plus [unpaginated] 2pp blanks,half-title page,author's list of published titles,a title page,a Contents list/table+title page,a dedication with blank reverse,a Contents list/table,individual Foreword and Notebook's separator pages,and to the rear,a further 4pp blanks. Visually the external appearance is still exceptional,and particularly internally,is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of it's 55+ year-old age.It is only the minimal and minor faults described preventing a slightly higher grading.Despite that,it really is still an exceptional,exemplary example for it's brightness,cleanliness and lack of other or age-acquired detracting faults usually encountered in a book of a comparable age.An uncommon book in an exceptional condition for the collector.   A novel working on many levels,this is the author's humorous and poignant version of Byron's last three notebooks.Includes an elaborately developed provenance and is Prokosch's skilfully woven story of what the poet may well have written.Using the device of the “lost manuscript”,Prokosch narrates the fictional discovery of the dying man’s notebooks. The three notebooks that are here presented as 'The Missolonghi Manuscript' are the vivid memoirs of a dying intellectually curious man who has decided to review his whole life as honestly as possible for his own edification.    Frederic Prokosch (b. 1906 – d. 1989) was a novelist,poet,literary critic,and translator. Born in Madison,Wisconsin,to an immigrant family of intellectuals,Prokosch graduated from Haverford College in 1925 and received a Ph.D. in English in 1932 from Yale University.During World War II,he served as cultural attache of the American Legation in Stockholm. Prokosch's first novel,'The Asiatics',was published to great acclaim in 1935 and was reissued in 1983 by Farrar,Straus & Giroux,which simultaneously published his last book' Voices.',a memoir that was praised for its portraits of some of the most outstanding 20thC  authors and artists.In 2010,'Voices: A Memoir' was shown to be almost wholly fictitious and part of an enormous hoax.   In 1823,Lord Byron travelled to Greece as a representative of the London Philhellenic Committee established to support the Greek War of Independence,bringing with him significant financial aid.His original destination was the island of Cephalonia in the Ionian Islands - at that time,a protectorate of Great Britain.In January 1824,Byron,together with the Italian philhellene Pietro Gamba,arrived in Messolonghi,where he was received enthusiastically.He probably chose Messolonghi after many invitations from the Phanariot diplomat and politician Alexandros Maurokordatos who had his base there.The city was of great strategic importance to the Greek forces and had already been besieged twice by the Ottomans. Unfortunately a few weeks after his arrival, Byron became seriously ill and died on April 19, 1824 at the age of 36.   Please contact the seller,particularly ALL overseas buyers for correct shipping/P+p quotes BEFORE placing your order,especially if ordering any multiples. N.B. ALL buyers please note,stock(s') shipping quotes are adjusted for any refunds AFTER receipt of order and BEFORE the despatch of the order,especially if the item is offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard US AIRMAIL to these destinations can now,in some cases,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 US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

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

Prokosch, Frederic : THE MISSOLONGHI MANUSCRIPT

Farrar, Straus & Giroux 1968.

VG/VG-. Blue paper over cardboard boards with dark blue cloth spine and gold lettering. Very minor edge fading. Small store sticker on ffep. Story of lord Byron and his last months in Greece before he died. The three notebooks that are presented in this book are the memoirs of a dying man who decided to review his life and loves. DJ is mylar skinned with a bit of separation along spine. Minor edge nicks. Dark blue with gold and white lettering. Small oval portrait of Byron on front. ; 8vo; 338 pages. Binding is Hardcover; Second Printing.

Bibliophile Bookbase for antiquarian books, maps and prints.