MASTERPIECE OF DOMESTIC TENSION

Green, Henry (Henry Vincent Yorke, 1905–1973)

Loving [A Novel]

New York: The Viking Press, 1949.

A cornerstone of 20th-century British Modernism.
This celebrated work of mid-century British fiction captures the intricate power dynamics between servants and masters in a remote Irish castle during World War II. 

Widely regarded as Green's finest achievement, the novel utilizes a highly stylized prose and innovative dialogue to explore the class anxieties and romantic entanglements of a world on the brink of collapse. This 1949 Viking issue represents the immediate American reception of one of the 20th century's most distinctive literary voices.

KEY FEATURES
+++ Visuals: Dust jacket designed by the Hungarian-American artist IIonka Karasz, known for her prolific 'New Yorker' covers. 
+++ Binding: Full bright blue cloth with silver-gilt spine lettering; top edge tinted. 
+++ Content: A novel of domestic life and class conflict set in Kitzebury Castle. +++ Imprint: The Viking Press, New York, 1949 (Fourth Printing). 
+++ Specs: 8 inches tall; 248 pages.

CONDITION
+++ THE BOOK: The cloth is bright and clean. The bindings are tight and square, holding the 248-page text block firmly. The internal pages are clean and free of markings, showing only light, even age-toning. The front endpapers exhibit a distinct rectangular patch of toning, a classic 'ghost' transfer from a now-absent news-clipping.
+++ DUST JACKET: The Karasz-designed jacket is present and remains vibrant, though it is price-clipped. It shows mild edge wear to the extremities, including a small closed tear on the upper edge near the letter 'L' in the title. Now preserved in a clear, archival protective sleeve.

SCHOLARLY FEATURES
+++ Literary Style: Serves as a primary example of Green's 'non-representative' dialogue and his rejection of traditional narrative interiority.
+++ Socio-Historical Context: Captures the 'Emergency' (World War II in Ireland) from the unique perspective of displaced British servants.
+++ Modernist Lineage: Henry Green is frequently cited by modern writers like Eudora Welty and Terry Southern as a foundational influence on the development of the psychological novel.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE —
Henry Green, the nom de plume of the industrialist Henry Vincent Yorke, was a 'writer's writer' who balanced a career in manufacturing with the creation of some of the most linguistically experimental novels of the 1930s and 40s.

'Loving' was the book that broke Green's work to a wider American audience. While his earlier works remained niche, this 1949 Viking edition—part of a coordinated effort to publish his 'back catalogue' in the US—cemented his status as a major international figure.

The dust jacket artist, IIonka Karasz, was a central figure in the modernist design movement in New York; her work here provides a visual bridge between European avant-garde aesthetics and American commercial publishing.

SUBJECTS: British Fiction, World War II, Ireland, Servant Life, Class Conflict, Modernism, Modernist Literature, Anglo-Irish Literature.

Item #21880

Price: $45.00