First edition. A dedication copy. Inscribed, at length under the printed dedicatory letter, by Greene to his publisher A.S.Frere. "1966-1981 - now as always a / devoted friend. About to lunch with you + Pat at the H.H.K. at Monte / Carlo on a beautiful sunny day. April 29-31 / With both our loves to both of / you / Graham." Original green cloth in green pictorial dustwrapper. A fine copy.

A.S. Frere-Reeves, later A.S. Frere was Greene's editor at Heinemann for his early novels starting with The Man Within in 1929. Frere became a director, eventually progressing to managing director of the firm.
Mike Hill and Jon Wise in their work on Greene's letters and manuscripts "A Guide to the Graham Greene Archives" assess Frere's influence, "Among his publishers, Alexander (A.S.) Frere exerted a profound and lasting influence on the writer from his earliest days at Heinemann until October 1962 when, amidst much acrimony Greene joined Bodley Head..."
Having been sidelined at Heinemann, Frere retired in 1961 to work as a consultant for Bodley Head. Greene followed him and dedicated his first novel with Bodley Head to his friend and former mentor. Their relationship is best summed up by part of Greene's lengthy printed dedicatory letter in this book,
"When you were head of a great publishing firm I was one of your most devoted authors, and when you ceased to be a publisher, I, like many writers on your list, felt it was time to find another home. This is the first novel I have written since then, and I want to offer it to you in memory of more than thirty years of association - a cold word to represent all the advice (which you never expected me to take), all the encouragement (which you never realized I needed), all the affection and fun of the years we shared."

Stock ID: 35611