A MELBOURNE COMEDY OF CHARACTER

Lurie, Morris

Rappaport [Signed - Association Copy]

London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1966.

A SIGNED ASSOCIATION COPY LINKING AUSTRALIAN FICTION, NEW YORK PUBLISHING, AND THE RAEBURN / HORIZON PRESS CIRCLE.
Morris Lurie’s Rappaport follows a young Melbourne antiques dealer whose intelligence, disorder, friendships, and comic misadventures give the novel its distinctive energy.

Written with wit and an eye for absurdity, the book captures a specifically Australian urban world while also reflecting the broader postwar literary interest in restless, self-conscious, sharply observed characters.

A Raeburn Association Copy.
This copy is inscribed by Morris Lurie to Ben Raeburn, publisher at Horizon Press, and comes from Raeburn’s estate, later passing to his partner Patricia. The inscription was made in the office of literary agent Richard Simon, where the only copy available was an agent’s file copy, giving this example a particularly appealing publishing-world provenance.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Wine-red textured cloth with gilt spine titles. Octavo; 7.75 inches tall; 207 pages. Hardcover in the original dust jacket. Publisher’s agent sticker reading ‘File Copy’ on the front endpaper, crossed out.

PROVENANCE: Signed and inscribed by Morris Lurie to Ben Raeburn, publisher of Horizon Press. From the estate of Ben Raeburn, later passing to his partner Patricia.

The copy also bears a publisher’s agent ‘File Copy’ sticker on the front endpaper, crossed out, consistent with the account that the inscription was made in literary agent Richard Simon’s office using the only copy then available.

CONDITION: Near Fine in a Very Good Dust Jacket. No flaws or blemishes beyond minimal shelf handling. The agent’s ‘File Copy’ sticker is present on the front endpaper and crossed out. Dust jacket shows modest handling and a hint of spine darkening. First Edition, First Printing.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Australian Fiction in a Wider Literary Network —
Rappaport belongs to the postwar generation of Australian fiction that brought local settings, urban characters, and comic social observation into broader English-language publishing. Lurie’s Melbourne antiques dealer is not heroic or conventional; he is articulate, distracted, self-aware, and comic, making the novel a sharp character study as much as a narrative.

A Copy with Publishing History.
The Raeburn association gives this copy added interest beyond the text itself. Ben Raeburn’s role at Horizon Press places the volume within a mid-century publishing network, while the agent’s file-copy marking and inscription preserve a small but tangible record of literary circulation between author, agent, and publisher.

SUBJECTS: Morris Lurie, Australian Fiction, Melbourne, Antiques Dealers, Ben Raeburn, Horizon Press, Literary Agents, Association Copies, Australian Literature; Literary Fiction; Association Copy.

Item #20250

Price: $85.00