Lessing

1974 · ref. C104166 — London: Octagon Press 1974. First Edition. Signed. Hardback. Dust Jacket. Hardcover Hardcover. Very Good. First Edition. Signed. Hardback. Dust Jacket. 8vo. pp 182 4 pp publishers advertisements . Original publisher's light green cloth lettered gilt at the spine . Signed presentation from the author on the front endpaper 'to Tom love as always from Doris January 1975. Provenance Forum Auctions Nov 2025. Tom Maschler - a legendary figure in British publishing Cape responsible for championing some of the most important writing of the twentieth century. Known as a brilliant talent-spotter Tom launched the careers of writers as various as Ian McEwan Edna OÕBrien Clive James and Bruce Chatwin. He famously purchased Joseph HellerÕs Catch-22 for £250 and persuaded Desmond Morris then working at London Zoo to write The Naked Ape. In 1967 Tom conceived the idea of the Booker Prize which launched in 1968. An incredible fifteen of his authors have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Tom was also known as an exceptional childrenÕs publisher especially of illustrated books: it was he who introduced Roald Dahl to Quentin Blake. Fine in near fine dust jacket with lower spine faintly sunned. No other inscriptions not price-clipped. Octagon Press hardcover