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Le CARRE**, JOHN: : A MURDER OF QUALITY. [NAL/SIGNET D2529.]

US.NEW YORK,NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY,September,1964.

ISBN No ISBN.

US,slim 12mo p/back,1st edn.[US,slim 12mo p/back,1st edn,Originally and first published (UK),8vo HB+dw/dj by Gollancz (London) in 1962, followed by simultaneous (US) HB edn in 1962 by WALKER and Company,NY.Published on arrangement and with authorisation of Walker and Co., by NAL - this p/back SIGNET 2529,stated First Printing September,1964.A complete and unabridged edn.This listing one of the ealiest US p/back issues.] FINE-. No owner inscrptn and no price removal (50c) from front card cover.Bright, crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,glossy,red wrap-around background with non-credited black silhouetted cyclist with black corresponding shadow,pictorial artwork illustrated front cover with capitalised yellow-lettered author's name and title,other white-lettered author credit for a subsequent title (TheSWCIFTCold),publisher's black-lettered,illustrated,numerated (D2529) and priced colophon to front cover's top edge; a flat and lightly sunned/faded red spine/ backstrip with a small yellow panel with SIGNET credit within,at its head,book's black letter+ serial number, capitalised yellow-lettered title and capitalised,black-lettered author name; rear cover with b/w lettered synopsis and 3 US critics' black-lettered reviews.Negligible shelf -wear,bumping,creasing - no nicks,tears or splits present.Spine/backstrip with some minimal small,vertical wrinkle at foot of same - due to its glue ageing and drying out over time - definitely NOT reading creases/wrinkles.Top edges coloured dusky/dark pink(?) with some minimal darkening,fore-edges with ubiquitous and inevitable age-acquired ageing/toning but bright; contents bright,tight,clean with minimal page-edge toning internally,solid and sound - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips - would appear unread other than my own collation.US,slim 12mo p/back,1st edn,7-126pp includes XX (20) chapters; plus [unpaginated] half-title with a synopsis and publisher's advert for other genre titles (Le Carre's 'CALL FOR THE DEAD' and Ian Fleming's 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' among them) to it's reverse,a title page wit a dedication to the reverse,author's Foreword,and to the rear 2pp publisher's advertisement for more mysteries and publisher's other listed genres.                  Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and even internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of its near 60-year old age and nature, i.e. an ephemeral p/back.It really is an exceptional, exemplary example for its cleanliness, brightness and lack of usual detracting faults paperbacks can acquire.                          'A Murder of Quality' is the second novel by John Le Carre,published in 1962.It features George Smiley,the most famous of le Carré's recurring characters,in his only book set outside the espionage community.                 Someone at Carne,oldest,proudest ornament of the  British public-school system had brutally killed the non-U,Chapel going wife of a snobbish don.The murderer had leaped (or flown?) across an impossiblywide expanse of new-fallen snow; had battered the victim bloody . . . and taken a string of glass beads.                            George Smiley,that bland,overweight,and deadly ex-espionage agent,travels down to Carne and finds a seething vipers nest under the pedagogical calm.Vicious gossip and ugly ambition are rampant among the inbred faculty and their restless wives. With his quiet, devastating ability to uncover the worst in human nature,Smiley arrives at a solution that even the worldly-wise George Smiley dreads . . .  Please contact seller,because of the lighter weight of this item,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - 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 US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

US,slim 12mo p/back,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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