Lot 138
Fraser, George MacDonald
£300
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photography
Auction: 13 January 2016 at 11:00 GMT
Description
Flashman, from the Flashman papers 1839-1842. New York: The World Publishing Company, [1969]. First American edition, 8vo, inscribed to Alastair Phillips "by the hand of the editor George MacDonald Fraser", original cloth, dust-jacket, later? red endpapers, ownership signature and inscription attribution to Fraser in owner's hand, some soiling to covers, some darkening and slight chipping to dust-jacket; [Idem] Flashman at the charge. London: Barrie & Jenkins, 1973. Provisional publication, 8vo, original paper covers with dust-jacket stapled to upper cover, some soiling and creasing to dust-jacket (2)
Footnote
Note: Fraser's inscription (signed 'Harry Flahman') reads: "To the worthy descendant of my old comrade-in-arms and occasional fellow Indian fighter PORTUGEE PHILLIPS in admiring recollection of his ancestor's headlong flight from Fort Phil... I could not have done better myself." In 1866, Phillips rode 236 miles through inclement weather from Fort Kearny to Laramie, in order to rally troops following the Fetterman fight. Another, typed, letter from Fraser to Phillips's grandson, Alastair, is laid-down onto an endpaper. Fraser has written: "Sorry the inscription was done with a ball-point. It should have been a quill, dipped in blood -- someone else's blood."
Fraser and Alastair Phillips shared an office at a The Glasgow Herald, with Phillips working as assistant editor, whilst Fraser was deputy editor. Phillips took a key role in persuading Fraser to go ahead and publish the first Flashman book, when he was toying with the text.
Fraser and Alastair Phillips shared an office at a The Glasgow Herald, with Phillips working as assistant editor, whilst Fraser was deputy editor. Phillips took a key role in persuading Fraser to go ahead and publish the first Flashman book, when he was toying with the text.
