D H Lawrence Collected Stories 1994 Asprey Bound Full Leather AEG For Sale

LAWRENCE, D. H.

Collected Stories.

Introduction by Craig Raine.

London and New York: Everyman’s Library, 1994.

Everyman’s Library Contemporary Classics No. 180. 1,432 pages.

Hand bound by The Asprey Bindery in full tan leather, with raised bands, gilt lettering, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers and silk ribbon marker.

A handsome and imposing modern fine binding of D. H. Lawrence’s complete collected shorter fiction, bringing more than fourteen hundred pages of stories and novellas together in a single substantial full-leather volume.

The underlying text is the substantial 1994 Everyman’s Library edition of Collected Stories, introduced by the poet and critic Craig Raine. This copy was subsequently hand bound by The Asprey Bindery in warm tan or cognac-colored leather, with five raised bands, gilt spine lettering, gilt edges, decorative marbled endpapers and a silk ribbon marker.

The binding is identified by its original rear label:

HAND BOUND BY
THE ASPREY BINDERY

The foot of the spine also bears the blind-stamped Asprey A.

This is therefore not the ordinary clothbound Everyman’s edition and not an anonymous modern rebinding. It is a documented Asprey hand binding that transforms a standard modern literary text into an attractive bespoke private-library volume.

D. H. Lawrence is best known for novels including Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow, Women in Love and Lady Chatterley’s Lover. His shorter fiction, however, forms one of the central achievements of his career.

The stories and novellas collected here span Lawrence’s development from his early depictions of industrial and rural England through the psychologically intense works of his mature period.

Among the major works included are:

• The Prussian Officer

• Odour of Chrysanthemums

• Daughters of the Vicar

• The Blind Man

• The Fox

• The Captain’s Doll

• The Ladybird

• St Mawr

• The Virgin and the Gipsy

• The Man Who Died

The collection also includes numerous shorter and lesser-known pieces demonstrating Lawrence’s range as a writer of social realism, psychological drama, satire, comedy, travel writing, rural observation and symbolic fiction.

His stories explore industrial society, family life, class, sexuality, marriage, violence, landscape, alienation and the conflict between instinct and social convention.

“Odour of Chrysanthemums” compresses domestic and working-class tragedy into a remarkably concentrated narrative, while “The Prussian Officer” examines authority, repression, humiliation and violence. The longer works, including St Mawr and The Virgin and the Gipsy, extend Lawrence’s psychological and symbolic method into novella form.

The book was published in 1994 as number 180 in the Everyman’s Library Contemporary Classics series.

It includes:

• introduction by Craig Raine;

• a chronology of Lawrence’s life and work;

• bibliographical material;

• a substantial career-spanning collection of Lawrence’s stories and novellas;

• approximately 1,432 pages of text.

The standard edition was issued as a handsome but conventional modern clothbound literary volume. The present copy has been transformed through Asprey’s full-leather hand binding into a much more unusual luxury-library object.

The binding is executed in warm tan or cognac-colored leather with a restrained, architectural appearance.

Its features include:

• full tan leather;

• natural grain and tonal variation;

• five raised spine bands;

• gilt title and author lettering;

• gilt spine compartments;

• all edges gilt;

• decorative marbled endpapers;

• silk ribbon marker;

• blind-stamped Asprey A at the foot of the spine;

• original rear label reading “Hand Bound by The Asprey Bindery.”

The design is deliberately understated. Rather than relying upon elaborate gilt covers, the binder has allowed the quality and color of the leather, the broad uninterrupted boards and the raised-band spine to provide the principal visual effect.

The result is a substantial and highly usable private-library binding: luxurious without being ostentatious, and particularly appropriate for a volume of this exceptional thickness.

No limitation is stated, and none is claimed. Documented Asprey-bound copies of this particular Lawrence title appear to be uncommon in the market.

Author: D. H. Lawrence
Title: Collected Stories
Introduction: Craig Raine
Publisher: Everyman’s Library
Place of publication: London and New York
Date: 1994
Series: Everyman’s Library Contemporary Classics
Series number: 180
Pagination: 1,432 pages
Language: English
Binding: Full tan leather, hand bound by The Asprey Bindery
Spine: Five raised bands with gilt lettering
Edges: All edges gilt
Endpapers: Marbled
Marker: Silk ribbon
Binder identification: Original Asprey Bindery label and blind-stamped Asprey “A”

Very Good to Near Fine overall.

The full tan leather binding remains firm, square and highly attractive. The leather retains a warm cognac tone with natural grain, mottling and tonal variation across the boards.

There are light signs of handling, including faint scratches, minor surface marks and slight rubbing. A few darker marks are visible near the foot of the spine, with light wear at the lower extremity and raised bands. The five raised bands remain strong and well defined.

The gilt spine lettering remains bright, clear and legible. The blind-stamped Asprey A is visible at the foot of the spine.

The all-gilt edges retain excellent brightness and luster, with only minor handling wear.

The marbled endpapers remain clean and decorative. The silk ribbon marker is present, with some light wear or fraying at the end.

The exceptionally thick binding remains tight and secure despite the substantial weight of the volume.

Internally, the pages are clean, crisp and apparently little read. No writing, significant staining or major textual defects have been noted.

The original rear label reading “Hand Bound by The Asprey Bindery” remains present.

Please examine all photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the condition description.

This volume will appeal to collectors of:

• D. H. English literature;

• modern short fiction;

• Everyman’s Library;

• Asprey bindings;

• luxury leather books;

• fine modern books;

• raised-band leather bindings;

• all-edges-gilt books;

• complete literary collections.

Its appeal lies in the unusual combination of a major English author, a comprehensive 1,432-page collection, Craig Raine’s introduction and a documented Asprey hand binding in full leather.

A monumental modern literary collection transformed into a restrained luxury object: more than fourteen hundred pages of Lawrence’s stories and novellas, hand bound by The Asprey Bindery in warm cognac-colored leather.