Rumour at Nightfall
Heinemann, 1931.
First edition. Original red cloth with gilt lettering to the spine and blind design to the upper cover, in rare dustwrapper with blue and green design. A fine copy in a very good dustwrapper, which just shows minor wear to the head of the spine and a chip from the upper corner of the front panel. Overall an exceptionally well preserved example of this rare dustwrapper.
The author's third novel, which along with Brighton Rock and A Gun For Sale, are so infrequently encountered complete with dustwrapper in commerce, that they are regarded by collectors as almost unobtainable. The scarcity can be partially explained by the fact that Greene's previous novel, The Name of Action, was both a critical and commercial failure, leading his publishers to issue a small initial print run of the following novel. The publisher's reticence was well founded as Rumour also fell foul of the critics. Greene himself was his own harshest critic,
"Both books are of a badness beyond the power of criticism properly to evoke - the prose flat and stilted and in the case of Rumour at Nightfall pretentious."
So disgusted was Greene with the work, he forbad its reprinting, a prohibition now laid upon his estate meaning that the book cannot be reissued until 2061.
Despite the poor reception, Rumour has a valid part in the Greene cannon as both a stepping stone and a motivation to the greatness of his later novels.
Stock ID: 29955
£37,500.00
