The Tree (inscribed to his mother-in-law)
St Albans: The Sumach Press, 1992. First thus. Softcover. A wonderful association copy, inscribed to his friend and soon-to-be mother-in-law on the title page: "Dear Leo, Affectionately, after this fallow season! John, July 18, 1993." After John Fowles's first wife passed away, he remarried in 1998 to Sarah Smith, who was much younger, and her mother was Leo Smith, a friend of Fowles and his first wife. Fowles lived in Lyme Regis, Dorset (where for nearly a decade he served as curator of the museum). He is best known for his classic The French Lieutenant's Woman, but The Tree, a long essay in book form, is truly a classic of environmental writing, a meditation on nature (especially trees, of course) and creativity alongside his relationship with his father and the British landscape. Originally published in 1979, it's often compared to Lewis Hyde's The Gift as an inspirational treatise on the creative spirit, and it's definitely a Rural Hours house favorite. Barry Lopez wrote a new introduction for the US Vintage edition, and W.S. Merwin was another big champion of the book. A very good or better copy in white wraps, a faint speckling of foxing on the top edge of the text block. Very slight tilt to spine, and one notation on the half-title page. In a near fine jacket with just slight creasing at top edge. A delightful find. Very good / Near fine. Item #1509
ISBN: 9780712652322
Price: $750.00 save 5% $712.50