The Guermantes Way. Translated by C. K. Scott Moncrieff.

PROUST, Marcel.

Published by London: Chatto & Windus, 1925

About this Item

First edition in English, first impression; the scarce third instalment in Proust's seven-part roman-fleuve À la recherche du temps perdu (1913-1927), one of the definitive modernist novels. This set has an appropriate queer association, being from the library of the suffragette and cross-dressing actor Vera "Jack" Louise Holme, with her Joan of Arc bookplate on the front pastedowns. Holme (1881-1969), a member of the WSPU and chauffeur to the Pankhursts, was noted in the 1911 issue of The Chauffeur magazine as Britain's first professional female chauffeur. She also associated with the community of artists in Kirkcudbright, Scotland. Its leader, Jessie Marion King (1875-1949), "designed a most appropriate bookplate for [Holme], depicting an armoured Joan of Arc figure with the [motto] 'O Freedom Beautiful Beyond Compare Thy Kingdom is Established', presumably marking women's emancipation" (ODNB). Holme's makeshift bookmark - a 1931 financial statement for the British Serbian Units Branch of the British Legion - is loosely inserted. She had worked in Serbia as an ambulance driver during the First World War and maintained ties with the country in the decades that followed. Proust wrote to the translator after reading the English version of the first instalment, Swann's Way, to compliment his "fine talent". Scott Moncrieff's remains famous for his translation of Proust and his rendition continues to be published in forms revised by successive editors and translators. He lends his name to the Scott Moncrieff Prize for French-to-English translation, established in 1965. Proust's seven-part roman-fleuve was published episodically in French in 1913-27 and in English in 1922-31. Connolly 23. Joseph Conrad, "Proust as Creator", Marcel Proust: An English Tribute, 1923. 2 vols, octavo. Original blue cloth, spines lettered in gilt, top edges blue, others edges uncut. Light fading to spines, gilt bright, spot of wear to foot of vol. II spine, bumps to ends and corners, foxing to edges and outer leaves, text largely clean. A very good set. Seller Inventory # 173081

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Guermantes Way. Translated by C. K. ...

Publisher: London: Chatto & Windus, 1925

Edition: 1st Edition