A Time to Keep Silence. DELUXE EDITION, #27/50 SIGNED BY AUTHOR

LEIGH FERMOR, Patrick

Published by Queen Anne Press, 1953

About this Item

Deluxe limited edition. Number 27 of 50 copies of the first edition signed by the author (from a total first edition of 500 copies, 450 unsigned) and bound in indigo niger morocco. Printed on Millbourn hand made paper. Full dark indigo polished morocco, raised bands and gilt lettering to spine. Alton Abbey library label to base spine, with mild surrounding markings where tape has been removed, and library mark in white to top spine. Small library sticker to front free endpaper. Top edges gilt. Title page printed in black and blue. Colour lithograph frontis in blue, black, and white, and three section vignettes, all by an uncredited John Craxton, Leigh Fermor's close friend and frequent collaborator. Text printed in red and black throughout (red initials and ornaments). Without dustwrapper, almost certainly as the 50 deluxe copies were issued. The second book by Leigh Fermor, 'one of the greatest travel writers of the twentieth century' (ODNB), an account of his stays at the abbeys of Saint Wandrille, Solesmes, and La Grande Trappe, as well as his visit to the abandoned rock-cut monasteries of Cappadocia, with a short postscript on British monasteries. For William Dalrymple, this is one of Leigh Fermor's 'two sublime masterpieces' (the other being his account of his journey by foot across Europe in the 1930s, A Time of Gifts), 'among the most beautifully written travel books of any period' ('Introduction', in O'Reilly, Habegger, O'Reilly, eds., The Best Travel Writing 2010, p. xvii). 'In the seclusion of a cell', Leigh Fermor writes, 'the troubled waters of the mind grow still and clear, and much that is hidden away and all that clouds it floats to the surface and can be skimmed away; and after a time one reaches a state of peace that is unthought of in the ordinary world' (p. xvi). First published in this limited edition by the Queen Anne Press, then a newly established private press under the directorship of Ian Fleming; the volume was designed by Fleming's close friend (and former member of his wartime assault unit) the typographer and designer Robert Harling. A revised edition was published in 1957. Robust packaging. Tracking can be added to overseas orders on request. Used books are exempt from USA tariffs. Size: xvii, 92pp.

Seller Inventory # QQ0324

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Time to Keep Silence. DELUXE EDITION, #27/50 SIGNED BY AUTHOR
• Publisher: Queen Anne Press
• Publication Date: 1953
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good+
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)