FURNIVAL PRESS • HANLEY TO RAEBURN

Hanley, James (1897–1985)

The Last Voyage [Signed Limited Issue Inscribed to his Publisher]

London: William Jackson (Books) Ltd., 1931. Limited Edition.

An association copy of this interwar small-press high-spot, inscribed by James Hanley to his American publisher, Ben Raeburn, nearly thirty years after its initial release. 

Issued as No. 5 in the prestigious Furnival Books series and printed at the Chiswick Press, this volume represents Hanley’s early success in the limited edition market. The 1960 inscription to Raeburn creates a unique temporal bridge, linking Hanley’s experimental beginnings with the established transatlantic partnership that defined his later career

KEY FEATURES
+++ Physical: Original green buckram, gilt-stamped; top edge gilt. Chiswick Press printing. Octavo (25.5 × 16 cm). Features a striking woodcut-style frontispiece by Alan Odle. Octavo (10 x 6.25 inches); [1-10] 11-73 [74] pages. Printed at the Chiswick Press for William Jackson (Books) Ltd., London, 1931.
+++ Edition: First edition, limited issue; No. 467 of 550 copies signed by Hanley (500 for sale).
+++ Association: Inscribed on the front free endpaper to Ben Raeburn: 'For Ben Raeburn with best wishes — James Hanley' (dated Feb 28, 1960). From the estate of Ben Raeburn (Horizon Press).
Contributors: Foreword by Richard Aldington.
+++ Bibliographical Points: Errata slip present, noting the Joiner & Steele imprint adjustment while retaining William Jackson (Books) Ltd. on the title page.

CONDITION: Good-plus. Binding tight and square. Green buckram shows light shelf wear and typical toning to the spine. Spine tips with minor wear. Internally clean, with minor foxing to the endpapers. A well-preserved example of a binding prone to discoloration.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE —
The Last Voyage is an early example of Hanley’s maritime fiction, a mode that would define much of his later work. The present copy extends that significance: inscribed nearly three decades after publication to Ben Raeburn, it embodies the enduring relationship between Hanley and the American publisher who helped sustain his reputation abroad.

The presence of the Joiner & Steele errata slip adds a further bibliographical point of interest, reflecting shifting publishing arrangements within the London small-press trade of the early 1930s. Copies combining signed limitation, errata slip, and later association are uncommon.

SCHOLARLY NOTES
+++ The Furnival Series: Issued as part of the Furnival Books series, alongside writers such as T. F. Powys and Stella Benson, reflecting the interwar market for finely produced literary editions.
+++ Modernist Context: With a frontispiece by Alan Odle and a foreword by Richard Aldington, the volume sits within a network of interwar literary and artistic collaboration.
+++ Association Significance: The 1960 inscription indicates that Hanley retained copies of his early limited editions and presented them to Ben Raeburn later in his career, reinforcing the documented relationship between author and publisher without presuming intent.

Subjects: James Hanley, Ben Raeburn, Furnival Books, British Literature, Modernism, Small Press Printing, Maritime Fiction. Irish Literature, British Modernism.

Bibliographic Reference: Gibbs A4a

Item #21934

Price: $325.00