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Early US Edition, not a first. Same date (1925) on the copyright and title page which was Doubleday Page & Company's way of indicating a first edition up until 1922. However, beginning in 1923 first edition was stated. This book was published in the same year as the US first edition. The first edition out of England, where the author lived, was published in 1924. My copy is flat-signed by the author on the title page (see photo). There are only two other signed copies for sale on the Internet, but both of them are plays that the author and Basil Dean adapted from the novel. One is selling for $450.00 and the other for $1200.00. Both of these are English editions, published in 1926. So, my book will be the Only signed copy of the novel for sale anywhere on the Internet. 'The novel sold well from its first appearance, becoming the first novel of a genre sometimes called 'Bohemian'. Much of its success was due to its then-shocking sexual content, describing scenes of adolescent sexuality and of noble savagery in the Austrian Tyrol.' 'Margaret Moore Kennedy was an English novelist and playwright. Her most successful work, as a novel and as a play, was The Constant Nymph. She was a productive writer and several of her works were filmed. Three of her novels were reprinted in 2011. She adapted The Constant Nymph, her second novel, into a highly successful West End play that opened at the New Theatre, with Noël Coward and Edna Best in September 1926. Coward was replaced by John Gielgud during the run. It was also successfully filmed in 1928 by Adrian Brunel, and again in 1933, 1938 (for television), and 1943, that film featuring Charles Boyer, Joan Fontaine, and Alexis Smith was adapted by Kathryn Scola and directed by Edmund Goulding.' You can see the dark blue covers in the photos. There is one white spot on the front. The lettering on the front and spine is green. It doesn't jump out at you on the spine but it's in good shape. There's a very small loss at the top edge of the spine and tiny bits of rub-through at the bottom edge of the spine. There are eeny teeny spots of rub-through at three of the four corners and a very small spot at one. The six cover edges are in very good shape, no rubbing. The spine has a moderate forward lean. The book is quite solidly bound. There is one instance of a space between facing pages, between the blank rear side of the front end paper and the half-title page. You can clearly see the webbing through the space, however both pages are solidly bound from top to bottom. There are no issues at the junctures of the covers and their facing end papers. In the main, the pages are clean. I'm turning them over and here's what I'm finding with regard to soiling: both sides of one page have a tiny tan spot, not touching the print; two facing pages have a few very small tan or amber spots off their bottom edge, not touching the print; there is a small tan spot off the middle edge of two facing pages and the same spot, faded now, on the two facing pages before and after it; there is another tiny amber spot off the top edge of a page, not touching the print; and five consecutive pages have a tiny tan spot just off their top edge, not touching the print. That may be it for spots or there may be a few other pages with an inconspicuous small spot that I'm missing. So I didn't see any soiling touching any of the print, or even coming near to it. All in all, not bad for a book published in 1925. I saw only a couple of pages that had a mild crease, just below their top corners. I saw two instances of a 1/8th" tear off the bottom edge of a page, far from the print. There are no markings in the book. No attachments of any kind. And no writing of any kind. When I bought this book a number of years ago there was a loose color illustration (see photo) inside it. No seller references an illustration or frontispiece in their listing so I feel pretty certain it didn't come from the book, but you can research it. Seller Inventory # 004858
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Bibliographic Details
Title: The Constant Nymph (Only Signed Novel)
Publisher: Doubleday Page & Company, New York
Publication Date: 1925
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good Minus
Signed: Signed by Author(s)
