A Diary Without Dates

Enid Bagnold

Published by William Morrow & Co., New York, 1935

About this Item

First American Edition (NAP, SD, William Morrow= NAP through 1973). This book is in very nice condition. You can see the blue covers in the photos. They do have some fading/color loss off the top edges and clearly on the spine which is now tan. The top edge of the spine has a teeny tiny tear, also a small spot of rub-through. The bottom edge of the spine has only a little crinkling. The six edges are in very nice shape, one speck on the front bottom edge. The corners look very good as well, no rubbing at all. The label on the spine is in very solid shape. The page edges look good. The middle one has five or six tiny slivers of tan spots. The book is very solidly bound from cover to cover with nicely tight pages throughout and nicely tight covers as well. The paper is of a nice quality. The pages are very clean, a few of the tan spots on the middle page edge just peek over the edge of a handful or so pages, obviously very far from the print. Other than that, I saw only a few tiny tan specks, so very clean pages. Also, in very good condition. I didn't see any creasing at all. And there are no markings or attachments. There is a neatly penned signature on the front end paper (Mabel Putnam Morgan). There is no other writing to be found anywhere. This was the author's first book. It was written about her war experiences as a nurse's aide during World War I when she was a member of the British Women?s Services. She served for about a year and a half in the V.A.D. (Voluntary Aid Detachment). 'Her duties were to attend to the non-medical needs of wounded British soldiers recovering from wounds in the Royal Herbert Hospital, just a few miles southeast of London. Some of the injuries she witnessed were absolutely horrific. A Diary Without Dates was written almost as a dreamlike prose-poem, portraying the suffering of soldiers, many of whom faced mutilation, wrenching pain, and death. Thus, it became a timeless commentary on the traumas of war. However, upon the book's publication Bagnold's negative commentary on the doctors and nurses she worked with led to her dismissal. She had also depicted visitors as voyeurs whose charitable acts served to bolster themselves rather than soothe the suffering troops.' After her dismissal she became a driver in France for the remainder of the war years. Ms. Bagnold was married Sir Roderick Jones, chairman of Reuters. They lived at North End House, Rottingdean, near Brighton (previously the home of Sir Edward Burne-Jones), and enjoyed a glamorous social life. The garden at North End House inspired her famous play (and the movie that followed) The Chalk Garden. Winston Churchill was a neighbor for number of years. Ms. Bagnold's most famous novel was National Velvet. Seller Inventory # 004732

Bibliographic Details

Title: A Diary Without Dates

Publisher: William Morrow & Co., New York

Publication Date: 1935

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Edition: 1st Edition